Realness I'm Faking
by the.great.idiot-21
Summary: Lilly finds herself being forced to move to Tennessee, only assuming the worst of it. Then she meets a girl who changes her views on life and steals her heart--LILEY-- an Alvinfan07 & -the.great.idiot-21 collaboration!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N 1-- Alvinfan07: Hey everyone! Here is a new story that just popped into my head and ..idiot-21 and I decided it'd be perfect for a collaboration. We are both really excited about writing this story for everyone and we hope you all enjoy it too. Thanks for reading this and leave us your thoughts :-) Thanks!!!**

**A/N 2- The Great Idiot: Yes everybody, hi. This is a new story and Alvinfan is right, this is very exciting! By the excitement in our voices, which you can't hear, we're very excited about this and enthusiastic! This will seriously be one of the coolest stories you will ever read...and I leave that with you all to remember...so review!  
**

**Realness I'm Faking  
**

"**Chapter 1"**

Lilly's POV—

"Tennessee?! Mom you have got to be joking!" I followed my Mom around the house as she looked for suitcases. I didn't help her one bit. I only tried to help myself by yelling at her, and asking her questions. "There's practically nothing there, why would you possibly want to get a job there?!"

"Lillian, I've already told you before, remember? I signed up with a job agency and there has just been a great opening with a small music business, in Tennessee." Mom said as she pulled a few suitcases out of her closet. Then she started walking to the garage. I followed her once again.

"Music? Why would you want to work with a small music business? You hardly know anything about music Mom. Bullshit ok! This whole thing is a bunch of bullshit! I won't do it…I-I can't do it."

"Lillian! Would you please stop? I have raised you better than to talk to your mother that way. This is about school isn't it?"

"Don't call me that, and yeah actually, school, all my friends and, well…" I spoke a bit softly.

"Oliver. I know it'll be hard, but you two can still keep in contact in ways, can't you?" She suggested as the conversation softened up a little.

"I guess so," I folded my arms and looked down at the floor, still frustrated with this news that had suddenly been sprung upon me. I looked up with anger in my eyes again, "But you know it won't be the same Mom. I'm a senior and eighteen years old now, this isn't fair!"

Now Mom was pulling some heavy boxes off of suitcases. Also looking for a chair now, to get some empty boxes from some of high shelves in the garage. Once again I wasn't helping, only thinking about the dilemma I was facing.

"Life all together, isn't fair sweetie," She toned down again and put a hand on my shoulder, "But I know that…way deep down, you know that I can't pass this great offer up. So could you please support me on this? I know we can get through it together."

I let her hand rest on my shoulder, while I thought for a few seconds. I felt a little guilty for getting so mad, because she was right, deep down I knew she couldn't pass an offer like this up. And the yelling I was doing was only from being scared and I didn't know how else to handle it. I was about to give in, then thoughts of Oliver came into my mind again.

Mom knew he means a lot to me. But after a school dance last Friday, he means a lot more to me now. It was the most amazing night of my life. I had never done anything like that before, but I knew he'd always be good to me. Of course the next morning I had to lie to her, but hey, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. And I sure has hell didn't want her to know I had already slept with Oliver. I mean I'm eighteen and I can do what I want; well just stuff like that in my opinion.

These rush of thoughts to my head, about Oliver, got me worked up again, so I pulled away. "Alright Mom, I get it. I understand that you can't give this up. I'll try to support you on it, but you also have to understand that I'm still real pissed about all this." I started to walk out of the garage and into the house, then I stopped and turned around to see her face full of disappointment, and to say one last thing, "And one more thing…I'm eighteen now, so I can get through this _myself_."

With that, I turned and walked back into the house, leaving her to get more boxes and suitcases herself. I just need to go in my room and be alone for awhile, and very soon…tell Oliver.

After a few hours of lying on my bed and simply thinking of what to say to Oliver, what to do about this whole situation, it was almost midnight. But I knew he was still awake; Oliver doesn't usually go to sleep until just after midnight. So I figured now might as well be the best time to let him know what was happening.

I quickly picked up my cell phone from my nightstand and called him up. The phone only rang once. When I usually called this late at night, Oliver knew I needed too talk about something important.

"Hey Lilly, what's going on?" He asked in a soft voice.

"Hey Oliver. Listen, I don't know how to say this; actually I never thought I'd have too. Especially after last week you know? I mean that was the most amazing night of my life." I giggled a bit into the phone.

"Yeah I know, it was wasn't it? Alright, stop steering off the topic, what's wrong now?"

Damn, he kept me back on track. Oh well, sooner is better than later. "Well my Mom got a really good job offer in a small music business, in Tennessee." I finally said with a deep breath.

"Lilly that's great; your Mom got a job in…Tennessee." He said slowly as realization suddenly hit him. "Wow, that's uh, that's rather far. Pretty much over half way across the country you know? Are you gonna be ok?"

"No actually I'm not, I've been so mad at my Mom all day. I mean how could she do this to me? I could just think of you and my friends here. She says she really can't pass this offer up, but I still can't accept it."

"Lilly, calm down alright? It'll be fine. Sure I'm a little upset too, but we can still keep in contact right?"

"I know all about how we can do it, but it's just not the same and you know that," I huffed.

"Yea, I know…" He sighed. Then for a few seconds he was silent, and I didn't know what to make of it. Tears pricked my eyes the more I thought about leaving him. It just wasn't fair. Oliver and I had been dating for about a year and a half now. "Lilly?" He suddenly spoke.

"Yea?" My voice cracked.

"I-I'm really going to miss you…" His voice trailed off. I could tell he was crying, and that's all it took to break me.

"I d-don't want t-to go," I chocked back my sobs.

"Lil," He sounded so sincere. "I don't want you to go either… I love you…"

I wiped the tears from my face with a small smile on my face, "I love you too."

"Hey, um… can I call you back in a few?" He sounded hesitant.

"Yea," I breathed, "Sure."

"Alright, I'll talk to you in a couple minutes. Love you."

I couldn't help the smile that crept across my face; he could always make me feel better no matter what. "Love you too." With that, we both hung up and I stared up at my ceiling. How the hell am I going to be happy without him with me all the time? With a heavy sigh, I close my eyes and attempted to calm myself down.

What seemed like only seconds later, my cell phone starts ringing. Knowing it was Oliver, I just flipped my phone open, "Hey you," I said, trying to sound happy.

"Hey, look your window."

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"Please?" He pleaded.

"Okay…" I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed to get up. When I reach my window and look out, my face instantly lights up. Oliver smiles up at me from the ground, hanging up his phone, and waves. "What are you doing here?" I lovingly ask.

"I couldn't wait till morning to see you… Especially after hearing that you're, well… you know," He looks down sadly.

"You are so sweet… Hold on, I'll go unlock the door for you," I wink and quickly dash out of my room without waking my mother up. Once I'm downstairs I unlock the door and was immediately wrapped up in the warmth of my boyfriend's arms. I clung onto him like there was no tomorrow… "I'm so glad you came over… But, won't you get in trouble?"

"I don't really care about getting in trouble right now," And with that, he kissed me. With a smile, I slowly led him up to my room, not breaking the kiss the whole way up the stairs.

Oliver's POV—

I sigh contently as I held Lilly in my arms. Turning my head to look at her clock, I can see that it is now one-seventeen in the morning. My attention turns back to her because I can't stand to not look at her right now. Lilly struggles to keep her eyes open as she looks at me with a small smile. I reach over with my free hand and tuck her hair behind her ear, "Get some sleep, love," I softly whisper.

"I don't want to sleep," She scoots closer to me. "I want to make every moment with you last as long as it can…"

"So do I, Lilly. But you need your sleep," I place a kiss on her forehead.

"Will you stay here tonight?" She asks as her eyes slowly close.

"Of course I will…" I kiss her softly on the lips and watch her drift off to sleep.

Seeing her here next to me makes my heart ache and swell with joy all at the same time. Lilly's always been there for me since day one. She's my best friend; my one true love. I can't believe she's actually going to be moving… I squeeze my eyes shut when I feel tears threaten to fall from them. If I cry now, she'll wake up and start crying herself; again. How will I go on with senior year without her? We were going to go to Prom together and everything. This was supposed to be our year.

Tears finally spill from my eyes and I burry my face into her hair to try to calm my nerves. I can't lose her. We could probably find a way to make a long distance relationship work, but I'm still afraid that I'll lose her. I've never felt this way about anybody before and I don't think I ever will with anyone else besides her.

Cautiously, I pull her sheets up to cover her bare shoulders. She buries her face into the crook of my neck and lets out a breath. My arms wrap tighter around her torso and I let this moment sink in. I think back to just a little while ago when we made love. It seemed like we were the only two people on Earth. Nothing could stop us and nobody could get in our way of being together. If only it could always be that way. Living in that moment when everything was perfect. That's how I always want it to be. Just me with Lilly; two souls joining together to become one…

What am I going to do without her…?

**AN- Alvinfan07 here.. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. We'll be working on the second one shortly, and dont worry, we havent abandoned our other stories lol. So no worries there. Thanks again for reading and hope you liked it :-D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N 1- Alvinfan here! Here is the next chapter to our story that we keep getting more and more excited about the more we talk about it, lol. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it is highly appreciated. So keep up with the great reviews, and it'll motivate us to update quicker, ha. So yea, hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks Again.**

**A/N 2- The Great Idiot: So sorry it took long, but I agree with whatever Alvinfan says, thanks for soo many reviews. That's a lot of support for us and helps us write better too. So please review…you know you want too. (believe me, I can get cheesier.)**

**Realness I'm Faking  
**

"**Chapter 2"**

Lilly's POV—

"Oliver, wait. Do you have to leave now?" I asked him as he was quietly slipping out of my bed. He simply pointed to my clock, 7:26. "Oh yeah, I suppose that's kinda pushing it. I guess you'd better get home before you get caught. Can I see you again besides school?"

"You're moving in a week right?"

"Yeah we are." I replied a bit sadly.

"Well you've got a lot of packing to do. So I guess I'll just say goodbye, the day you leave."

"You're right, I would probably have to get home right after school and start packing. Oh gosh Oliver, it just won't be the same without you." I said as some tears threatened to spill. Then I reached out to hug him and he returned the hug, tightly.

"Lilly, everything will be fine," He said softly, "We'll talk on the phone everyday alright? Or instant message and even webcam whenever we can."

"Yeah alright, I guess that does make things sound better. Thanks Oliver." I smiled at him as we pulled away from the hug.

"Well I should go now, but I'll see you later. Don't forget to call me before you leave." He said, then quietly opened my window and slowly climbed down the tree just outside.

"Don't worry, I won't. Bye, I love you."

"Love you too." He said once he made a small jump to the ground and then began running the short distance to his house.

------

Sooner than I knew it, a week had passed. With all the packing and some homework I had to do, I hardly got to see Oliver even during school. Then once the time came, on that final day, I called Oliver just like I had told him I would.

As soon as I saw him walking towards our house, a lump instantly formed in my throat and I could feel my eyes beginning to get wet, all because of knowing that this was the last time I would see him until who knows when.

I leaned up against the back of one of the moving trucks. "Hey Oliver." I said in a small voice.

"Hey Lilly, so…" He paused for a minute, and looked at the ground in thought. The silence between us wasn't comfortable like usual, just annoying now that I was in a hurry to leave.

"So…what? Just spit it out." I urged him on faster. But this had turned into my anger speaking now and I wasn't proud of it.

"Whoa, whoa. Hey calm down alright? It's gonna be ok." Oliver just said, but made no movement towards me, to comfort me.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just all happening right now and I can't take it all so fast." I said and moved into his arms for a hug.

"I'm really sorry Lilly. Sometimes things just have to happen fast like this." He said softly.

"Thanks. Now what were you going to say before?"

"Oh, so you guys are driving I see?" He gestured toward our car. It was packed full. You couldn't even see out of all the back windows of that thing.

"Yeah, we figured it's nice and tough, enough to get us that far." I told him as I pulled out of the hug.

Suddenly my Mom walked out of our now, old house, and hurried toward me. "Oh here you are Lilly. Listen, the men for the two moving trucks are on a schedule, so we…oh hi Oliver." Mom said as she suddenly noticed his presence.

"Hey Ms. T." Oliver said with no expression.

"Look I'm very sorry you two, but we need to leave now dear. Bye Oliver, I'll miss you too." My Mom gave him a small, quick hug and then hurried to our car.

"See ya." Oliver called after her, breaking the silent morning a bit.

"I-I gotta go now I guess. I'll call you later though." I said quietly and started leaning in for a kiss. I had been planning on this last minute kiss. Waiting for it and dreading it at the same time.

The closer I got, the more my thoughts changed. I realized I wouldn't be able to handle a long and lingering kiss, goodbye. It would just make it all the more harder for me to leave. So with that sudden thought, I leaned in and just gave it a couple seconds. Then pulled away quickly. "Goodbye Oliver, I love you." Without another word, I quickly walked away in silence, as this was beginning to become a lot harder. Complete silence was also behind me as well.

I had a small urge to look back, but I knew nothing good would come from it. So I kept my eyes on the goal in front of me, the car. I quickly opened the door, got in, and Mom drove off. On the quick turn Mom made, the rear view mirror on my side gave me a glimpse something I didn't want to see. It only helped the tears come flowing at last.

--------

I was sure that I was going to go completely insane at the thought of driving all the way to Tennessee in this car. We had already been on the road for hours on end, and if it wasn't for my iPod and laptop, I knew I'd loose it. I was in the middle of a song when my mom turned to face me; I paused the song with an unpleasant look on my face. "What?" I snapped.

"Lillian," She warned, glaring at me, "Don't talk to me like that."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "Then what do you want?"

She took in a deep breath, probably trying to calm herself so she wouldn't yell at me. Like I'd care anyways. "I was just checking to see if you needed to stop anywhere before we continue."

"No," I sigh, "I'm fine…" Before she says anything else, I press play on my iPod and tune her out. I still can't believe all of this is happening… I miss Oliver so much. I tightly close my eyes and try really hard to not think about him. Too bad every single flippin' song has to remind me of him; so I turn my iPod off with a sigh.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" My mother asks.

Did she seriously ask me that? Just now? She's got to be kidding! "What do you think is wrong?! We're moving to Dull-ville, Tennessee! That's what's wrong!" Tears sting my eyes as I feel myself completely lose it. She just doesn't understand; she never will.

"How many times do I have to say sorry to you?" Her voice is full of hurt, which makes me feel even worse. "I feel really bad about this whole thing, Lilly, and I'm sorry. I know it's your senior year, it's going to be tough, but please just try to support this."

There's a moment of silence where I spend time ignoring the urge to continue yelling at her. She just doesn't understand…and she never will. Doesn't she get that? Right as I'm about to pull out my laptop, she continues talking. "Do you have any requests for a hotel to stay at tonight?" She shyly asks.

"I don't know… One with a pool?" I suggest somewhat nicely.

She smiles, "Alright, sweetie. We should be at the hotel by nightfall. Then we have to get up really early to make our way there."

I simply nod, not knowing what else to say. I just can't believe that I'm going to be in Tennessee tomorrow; for good.

-----

Normal Pov—

Nashville, Tennessee was a silent little town. Several stores and a few houses surrounded the sides of a street. A couple streets downtown, the road became a four way stop. Straight forward was the same smooth, asphalt paved road. Then both left and right, nothing but dirt roads and a few houses both ways.

Soon, a curly haired, brunette girl, sat on a tall, light brown horse. She was trotting on it slowly down the dirt road on the right. She turned and led her horse down the paved road. Then suddenly heard the silence of the sunny day being broken, by the sound of wheels being driven loudly on the road. The brunette looked ahead of her and was very surprised to see a bright red car. Some people walking on the sidewalks even stopped in their footsteps. A car like that wasn't seen often at all in a small town.

The car came right up to the stop and turned right into where the girl and her horse were just walking. She had to admit to herself that she was rather intrigued. So she decided to turn her horse back around and begin backtracking.

She did so until she arrived at where the car suddenly came to a stop. It parked right in front of a house that had been for sale. She stopped a good distance away, or so she thought, from the car and simply watched to see who got out.

She first saw a blonde girl, she looked like a teenager, about the brunettes age, get out of the passengers side of the car. Then quickly followed out of the drivers side of the car, was a taller women with blonde hair as well, she looked a bit similar to the shorter girl. Now this girl just watching them could only assume that was her Mother. She also watched as the shorter girl did a few things on her iPod, then pulled her earphones out, threw her iPod into the car and then slammed the door. _Not very happy_, thought the brunette. She glanced at her Mother who didn't say a word, but just shook her head.

As soon as she had seen the blonde get out of the car, her hair was wavy in the light breeze, she had hopped off her horse. So by now she was on the ground and even more intrigued by this other girl. Mostly by the fact that she looked her own age and seemed to act a bit like her.

She squinted a bit so she could get a good look at the words on the back of the car. _Wow, a Nissan Sentra. That's something you don't see here everyday_, she thought. And now couldn't help keeping her thoughts inside.

"Girl you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into." She said quietly, as she was a fairly good distance away. Then the blonde went to the trunk of the car. "Hot damn!" She said a bit louder this time.

The blonde turned around, looking for the source of the noise. Once she spotted the brunette, leaning against her horse, she simply replied, "Excuse me?"

The brunette went wide eyed and froze a bit as well. Not only did the other girl look amazing, her voice went along with her looks. Amazing.

She didn't know what to do now though, she had been spotted and couldn't think straight as the blonde began walking toward her.

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**A/N—Alvinfan again! So there ya go… a cliffy, ha! I'm not evil… hehe. Anyways, I do realize this chapter is a bit short as well, but we are planning on having them longer, hopefully the next chapter. Can't promise too much, but that's what we'll shoot for. I personally can't wait to start writing the next one. Ok, I should shut up now, lol. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! Reviews would be awesome, but that's totally your call.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N 1: Alvinfan again! Thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapter. And thanks to those who pointed out the minor mistake we made. Hopefully we fixed it well. But anyways, here's the next chapter, and hopefully you enjoy it. Thanks again!**

**A/N 2: The Great Idiot! Oh yeah, Black Friday was awesome! Yeah as much as I'm not a morning person, this is the one day of the year I am. In fact I didn't sleep all night. I just went to wal-mart at 4am. It was crazy fun! I finally got Rockband, another guitar for my GH, a bunch of DVD's…oh ok, sorry I'll stop now :P. (Yeah well I had to bring it up sometime.) Yes I do agree, thanks for pointing out that Nashville is a big city. Man that was embarrassing, but hopefully no longer. I think we made it a good fix. (A made up town, but what the heck?) Well read on…**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 3"**

Lilly's POV—

I walked over to a brunette who stood across from my new yard. Her eyes were widened in surprise. In some way, she intrigued me; I couldn't explain it. Her hair was long, wavy, and the slight breeze blew into it. She wore a simple black t-shirt, ripped skinny jeans, cowgirl boots, and she wore a bandanna tied neatly around her wrist. The only thing that would make her a stereotypical cowgirl is if she had a cowgirl hat on. I'm sure she has one though. I make my way over to her; staring her down, "What did you say?"

"Uh…" She stalls. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Why would I say anything to you?" She rudely remarks.

Ouch. "Huh? What did I do to you?" I ask madly.

She rolls her eyes at me. What's with this girl? I didn't even know her! "Forget it. Welcome to Southville," She welcomes sarcastically.

"Southville?" My nose scrunches in confusion. "This isn't Nashville?"

The brunette bites her bottom lip, trying not to laugh I'm guessing. "Nashville??" She laughs. Yup, I was right. "This isn't Nashville! Do you know how big that city is? Come on, city girl, didn't you read the sign on the way into town?"

I can't believe she's making fun of me. She is so rude! I turn to my mother, sending her a death glare. "I thought you said we were going to Nashville!"

"Oh," She dumbly says. "I guess I said the wrong city. I'll be working in Nashville, so it's an honest mistake."

Rolling my eyes, I turn my attention back to the rude girl in front of me. I glare as I see that she's smugly smirking at me. "Okay, so I said the wrong city, big deal. It's an honest mistake."

"No," She laughs. "Everybody knows where Nashville is and what it looks like." I see her stare at my mom's car again. "Ah, California… Get a little too much sun then?" She smirks.

My mouth drops. "What?!" I snap. Before I continue, my mother decides to walk over to us.

"Well, hello there," She smiles. She sticks her hand out for a handshake, and the brunette happily accepts it. "I'm Heather Truscott and this is my daughter, Lilly."

"Nice to meet you." I can't tell if her smile is real or fake. Then again, I don't really care. "My name's Miley. Welcome to Southville."

"Thank you, Miley. It's nice to meet you as well." She gives us both a smile and heads back over to the car. Great, now I'm alone with her again. I should just walk away, but for some reason… I don't.

From the corner of my eye, I see someone else approaching and… Oh. My. Gosh. He is so cute! Miley sees the look on my face and turns around to see what I'm looking at. "Jake!" She smiles and runs over to him.

"Hey, Miley." He smiles and they give each other a one-armed hug. Wow… She can actually smile for real. "Just came over to say hi to the new neighbors."

I watch as she says something to him, but I can't make out what she says. He gives her this weird look and laughs. I swear if she told him I thought this place was Nashville I'm going to—

"Hi," He says while walking up to me. "My name's Jake Ryan. Welcome to Tennessee." Jake sticks out his hand and I gladly take it.

"Thanks, I'm Lilly." I can't stop the smile that forms on my face. I take in his look: gorgeous blonde hair that has a wind-blown look to it, dark jeans, a blue, flannel shirt that's open quite a bit…. Yea, Lilly likey…. And to top it all off, he's wearing a cowboy hat and boots. His smile causes my heart to skip a beat.

He shyly smiles at me and then glances back over at Miley. "So, you're from California?"

"Yea. I already miss it. Plus, I'm dreading to load all this stuff into the house." Please take my hint… Please!

"Well, I could certainly help with that. So can Miley."

I see Miley's eyes shoot open, "What?" She deadpans.

"You heard me." He gives her a serious look. I'm really confused.

She glares at him. "Fine," She growls and walks over towards us.

Miley's POV—

As we walk toward Lilly's house, I just follow behind the other two. And I simply stare at her. Even though I couldn't see her face at the moment, I remembered that all her features were just beautiful. Now this girl was also funny with the way she handled my attitude. It seemed like she couldn't understand what was wrong with me. It was rather amusing really.

But when Jake walked up to us, that changed things. A different smile came across her face, a change in her attitude, and a slight hint of jealousy stirred in the pit of my stomach. I could tell that she just might like him.

I was suddenly knocked out of my thoughts as they had stopped in front of her car and began talking. I saw Lilly's Mom, walk into their new house, leaving Lilly with me and Jake. Then Lilly leaned against the bumper of the car and began instructing us.

"Ok, since the moving trucks aren't here yet, I guess we'll just start with the boxes and stuff in the car." She said and opened up the trunk.

"_Trucks?_ You mean there's more than one? Gosh, that's a hell of a lot of stuff. Why do you people have to pack so…hmph!" I was cut off suddenly by a heavy box being shoved into my stomach. I put my arms around it and Lilly let go. Although she didn't back away from me.

"Excuse me, but if I recall a few minutes ago, you called me a city girl. So there's your answer, I pack so many things cause I'm just me and well, from the city too."

"Yeah, yeah ok you told me so. Now where do you want me to set this down?" I breathed out.

"Oh did that hurt?" She asked with no hint of sincerity in her voice.

"No."

"What's wrong, too heavy?" Lilly said sarcastically, as though she didn't care. And she still faced me, a few feet away from my face.

"No," I countered again, as I secured the box in my arms a bit more. I crinkled my nose with frustration. She was becoming a bit irritating now. "I'm fine, just a bit surprised that's all."

"Ok good, cause just a minute ago it seemed to me, like you're a pretty tough cowgirl. So if you couldn't handle a heavy box, then I'm not sure if you could handle much of anything, except tough talk." She chuckled at me, hands on her hips.

I decided to abandon the box all together and just set it on the ground, with a slight slam. Then fully faced Lilly again. "Oh yeah? You know, I can handle anything you throw at me, but I don't think much is possible coming from you. Think you can handle me? Think you can get used to Southville, city girl." We were facing each other a bit closely now, glares through the whole conversation. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Jake, simply standing there and watching the two of us quarrel. A slight look of amusement was on his face.

"What's with the nick names? Are we suddenly friends now or something?" Lilly asked.

"That wasn't supposed to be a compliment." I defended.

"It sure as hell didn't sound as mean as everything else you've said."

"Well damnit then." I shrugged my shoulders. Then Jake suddenly walked between us.

"Alright ladies, break it up now. Come on, we don't want anything to get too heated." Jake was facing me and raised an eyebrow at his double meaning he thought was clever. I just rolled my eyes.

Lilly and I folded our arms at the same time. I let out a sigh of frustration. "Alright, could you please help me unpack though?" Lilly asked.

"I'd be glad too and Miley, what about you?"

Wow, he actually asked me this time, now I had the choice to say no, but for some reason…I couldn't. "Fine." I gave her my answer, in a fake voice.

A few minutes later, after we had unloaded some boxes into their house, we all saw two moving trucks drive in front of the house and back into the driveway. Now we could open the back of the trucks easier.

I leaned up on the back of one of the trucks, "Alright, so which one do you want us to start with first?" When Lilly looked at me she had an odd expression. But she wasn't really looking at me, more like staring into space in my direction, "Lilly?" She didn't respond. I decided to have a heart, "Lilly, are you ok?" I asked louder this time and took some steps away from the truck. She snapped out of it this time.

"Oh, uh yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just…just thought of something, i-it's not important though." She responded quickly.

Jake and I both turned our heads towards each other in wonder. Then I asked her again, "Are you sure-"

"Yeah I'm fine, really. Now let's just start with this one." Lilly said as she pushed up the back door of the truck. It rolled upward with a slam. I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

Lilly's POV—

That was one weird feeling. In one flash of a second, I saw myself leaning sadly against the truck. Then the next second I saw Miley again. But seeing myself leaning against the truck before we left California, brought my thoughts back to Oliver. That was something I couldn't handle right now. Now wasn't the time for me to think of Oliver, it was time for me to unpack the trucks.

The help from Miley and Jake had been nice. Jake was a big help, as he was pretty strong. As for Miley, well I could really never tell what she was thinking. Every time we passed by each other, from the truck to the house, the look in her eyes was mysterious. She's just one big mystery waiting to be solved. Then for the heavy furniture, we left most of that for the movers driving the trucks.

After most everything was finished, Mom thanked Miley and Jake, again for about the hundredth time that day. I just rolled my eyes, "Thank you so much you two. We really appreciate all the help we can get. And thanks for becoming friends with Lilly. You know, I was afraid she might-"

"Mom! We were on our way into the house I believe?" These weren't friends, just kids from the town helping out the neighbors. Gosh, my Mom is so oblivious at times. I took a quick glance at Miley, of course she was about to laugh at me, but holding back her laughter by biting her bottom lip. Damn.

"Oh that's right, sorry sweetie. Alright, well I guess we'll see you two later then."

"Yes ma'am and you're very welcome." Jake said politely, tipping his hat. Wow, he's such a gentleman.

My Mom walked away and into the house, leaving just the three of us outside in the sun, which was beginning to set. I glanced over at Miley, once I saw the look of curiosity she had on her face, I took the smile off mine real quick. I had completely forgotten I had been smiling at Jake.

"So…thanks guys. I guess I'll see you around school sometime."

"Yeah of course. Do you know where it is?" Jake asked me.

"Oh yeah, I've got the directions and I already signed up as a new student too."

Miley just rolled her eyes, "Ok great, bye." She said and pulled Jake by the arm, away with her.

I didn't bother saying anything back, except turned around and walk toward my house. Then a thought occurred to me; I have everything set up in school, I just don't know where my classes are. Shit, I just know I'm gonna have to end up asking Miley. Suddenly my cell phone rang. Oliver. At least one thing brightened my day. I pulled it out of my pocket, I decided to sit on the front steps of our house and watch the sunset as we talked.

-----

Miley's POV—

When I finally made it home, my mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of Lilly. I just met the girl and she already made my head spin. I don't want to feel this way, but at the same time I… I thrive for it. It's something that I can't really explain. There's something about Lilly that intrigues me, aside from the fact that she's insanely hot.

Instead of going straight inside, I take a seat out on the porch swing outside on the deck. It's a nice evening since it cooled off. I really don't like it when it gets too hot…

My attention turns to a subtle noise I hear off in the near distance. It's Lilly… Her voice is magnificent. I was taught it was rude to eaves-drop, but I couldn't help myself. I needed to hear what she was saying. The more I could learn about her, the better. Or so I thought…

"Oliver," I hear her say. "It's so strange here. So far, I've only met one nice person." Ouch, I knew she wasn't talking about me… "Some guy named Jake," She continues, "Hopefully he'll be able to show me around the school instead of this one girl I met."

Frowning, I slump back into my seat. I know I brought it on to myself, but it still hurts. Yet, I keep listening anyways.

"I don't know what her problem is, but she's been mean to me since I met her… Her name's Miley." I smile; my name sounds much better coming from her. The next thing she says was something I totally wasn't expecting though.

"I love you too, Ollie, and I miss you like crazy…"

Love? She has a boyfriend? Of course she's straight. Why wouldn't she be?

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to stand listening to this conversation any longer, I decide too head inside. Somehow, I feel heartbroken. I just met Lilly and she already broke me. I can't let her in. If I do, then I don't know what would end up happening to me.

**A/N: Alvinfan yet again, lol. Thanks again for reading and hopefully our made up town is good for a fix. Yes, Miley isn't too pleasant, but that will be explained later. Thank you again, and reviews are always appreciated. **

**A/N: 2 shout out! (Alvinfan doesn't know about :P.) Kiddo, when you review just let me know you're on again ok?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N 1: Alvinfan here! So yea… this chapter is really long lol, and quickly updated too. Yay. Plus, we did say they'd probably get longer and we brought one for you. Hopefully you'll all like it. I sure had fun writing my part. I went nuts! Ha. Anyways, enjoy!! PS... I will try very hard to update Sleeping With Hannah soon. I apologize for the delay on that one.**

**A/N 2: It's The Great Idiot! Yeah I got some great news for you. Well you can already tell by now, this chapter is huge! Much bigger than we've done so far of course. What do you think Alvinfan, think we can do any bigger? I'm not too sure. Although maybe I should keep a record of my a/n and see how big mine can get. Anyway, have fun reading what we wrote and I hope you have fun reading what we wrote. (No you're not crazy, I really did repeat myself.) Enjoy…**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 4"**

Lilly's POV—

I could hardly sleep that night for a few reasons. Talking to Oliver had been so relieving and exciting. And then the other reason was school. I had to go to a new school the very next day. It came before I knew it.

I grudgingly got out of bed in the morning. I was going to protest to my mother in some way. But I figured since I had complained most of the trip over here, she didn't need me to be complaining about school now. So I just decided to get dressed and continue with the day.

The school was within walking distance, just a few minutes away. I had to make sure I was there early enough to find my new classes. So I ended up arriving fifteen minutes early. Not as soon as I wanted, but it was good enough if I hurried.

Once I was inside I walked quickly to the main office. Then I walked up to the lady at the front desk, to get my schedule. "Hi, I'm Lilly Truscott, the new student." I told her.

"Oh hi there, Ms. Truscott. One second, let me get your schedule real quick," The lady said and turned around on her chair to open a large drawer full of files. Then she pulled a piece of paper out of a folder with my name on it, "Alright, here you go. Your classes are listed on top and that number at the bottom is where you'll find your locker."

I gave it a quick glance over. Letters and numbers together? This was really different then what I was normally used to. "W-whoa wait, room T21, room C20? And, and locker M97504? Look I'm sorry, but this is all pretty much gibberish to me. Would you mind…?"

"I'm sorry, I would help you if I could, but we're really busy here this morning," She replied to me, "Why don't you go ask another student? You could make a new friend on your first day." She suggested happily.

"Alright, well thanks anyway." I sighed and gave her a small wave and then left the office. Once in the hallways full of lockers, I immediately spotted a bright, blond haired boy. I would recognize him anywhere. I ran up to him and tapped him on the back.

Jake turned around and looked at me with a surprised, yet happy expression. "Hey Lilly! So how you doin? Finding everything ok?"

"Hey Jake, I'm doing good." I smiled at him. His huge smile was always rubbing off on me. "And actually no, I'm not finding things. I mean all these letters and numbers together don't make any sense at all to me, this is nothing like what I was used to back in Malibu. I mean I don't know where the hell my locker is and why is the number so long?" Suddenly, Miley walked around from behind Jake's back. I'm guessing she had been listening to my complaints.

"Well you'd better get used to it, city girl. You ain't in Malibu anymore." Miley said and leaned up against a locker in front of me. Was she trying to be intimidating? With a smirk like the one she had on, and at the same time leaning in front of me, it didn't seem like she was.

"I know, but I'm just asking for a little help." I said.

"Listen you guys, I just remembered I gotta talk to one of my teachers about…something. But I'll see you later in class alright?" Jake suddenly spoke up. Then he put a hand on Miley's shoulder, but looked at me. "Miley can show you where to find things. Right Miles?" She turned her head to him with a glare. "Ok great, see you guys later then." Jake quickly darted away from Miley's death glare, now leaving just the two of us.

Miley's POV—

I can't believe Jake, that little sneak! I must have had that look in my eyes. Looking right at Lilly and not saying how badly I really wanted to show her around. But just faking the rudeness that I held. Damn.

"Listen, you really don't have too…" She started, realizing Jake had volunteered me for something that I made seem like I obviously didn't want to do. It seemed as though she didn't want my help much either. But I had only brought that on myself of course by acting like a jerk. Although, she didn't have much of a choice at this point, "…but I really would appreciate it." Oh great, she's making me melt again. Defense.

"Alright fine. First, look to your left," Lilly looked up from the piece of paper and turned her head. I rolled my eyes, "Your other left."

"Oh, sorry I was reading. I-I was distracted. Ok I see a locker."

"And what's the number?"

"Oh cool, it's mine!" She said with excitement and opened it with the combination that was also on the paper.

"Yup, you've been leaning on it this entire time," I said with sarcasm. She hardly noticed though since she was putting things in her locker. "Oh and just so you know, mines next to yours and Jake's is on the other side of mine." I said to her, turning and pointing to our lockers.

"Awesome. Well at least I know the people next to me. Ok what's next Miles…?" I slowly turned my head toward her with a glare. As much as I loved to hear my nickname coming from her, it was just a name that took time for me to get used to coming from someone else, "…M-Miley, what's next then?" Lilly asked, looking a bit scared. I felt a bit bad for that, but shrugged it off for now.

I looked down at the paper she was holding, then took it out of her hands in an instant. "Just follow me." I said in a huff and walked past her, hoping she could keep up.

When we arrived at one of the classrooms, I stopped and turned around to see her jogging up to me. Man, she was slow.

"Sorry, there were some kids block…blocking the whole hallway." She breathed out.

"It's fine. Alright, here's the math class in room T21 and to your luck, me and Jake are in this class too."

She smiled at the mention of Jake's name. "Cool. At least I'll know two people."

"Yea… Lucky you." I rolled my eyes and opened the door. Since it was still early, the classroom was pretty much empty. The only other person in here was the teacher's pet; Adam Tyler. I took my seat and from the corner of my eye, I saw that Lilly took the seat next to me. Luckily, Jake walked in and took his usual seat in front of me. It made things less awkward. Except for the look Lilly was giving him.

Lilly's POV—

I don't know why, but I decided to sit by Miley. I met her already, so somehow I felt safer. But now I'm really glad I did, because Jake sits in front of her. He is so cute… I feel bad for thinking that because of Oliver, but I can't help it.

"So," Jake started. "How're things going?" He smiled and glanced from Miley to me and back to Miley again. That part I didn't get.

"Peachy," Miley growled.

Jake gave her a look that I couldn't exactly figure out. I don't get these two. I was soon snapped out of my thoughts when the teacher walked in to start the day. And to my luck, she insisted that I stood in front of everyone to introduce myself. I hate being the new kid…

-----

The next few classes went by in a blur. I did the usual introducing myself thing to the class, did the work, and so on and so forth. So far, people have been pretty nice to me. It was nice to know that Jake and I have already become friends; it was a relief in my mind. But Miley… I wasn't quite sure. I didn't understand why she was so rude to me. It was starting to get on my nerves. Luckily, my next two classes were with Jake and not Miley, and they were right before lunch. It'll be nice to enjoy a conversation with him without any remarks from Miley. Jake and I took a seat near the back of the room where we continued asking each other questions. I had to ask one that's been running in my mind since I've met him. "So, um… are you and Miley like, dating or something?" I curiously ask.

Jake laughs, letting out a short snort. "No. We're definitely not dating. She's my best friend. We've known each other since first grade. There are many reasons why we're not dating."

That last statement seemed kind of out of place, but I decided to not question it. "I see," I set my backpack on the floor next to me. "Has she, um… Has she always acted like the way she does? You know, rude?"

His face fell. "Well, no… It's kind of a long story."

Before I could question more on the subject, the teacher turned around and started teaching. I guess I'll have to wait to hear this story.

-----

"Yes!" I said with excitement. "No homework in this class either. I'm starting to like my first day of school here." I flashed Jake a smile when I saw the amused look on his face.

"Glad you're enjoying it." We both took a seat on some benches that sat out in the hallway closer to our next class. It was morning break so we had time to kill.

"So, where's Miley?" I ask, taking a look around.

"She likes to get to her music class early." He explained.

"I see… Man, I just wish she'd stop being a jerk to me. I mean, what did I do?" I asked, looking at him.

"Nothing. It's just the way she handles things…" He trailed off.

"Well she's being a huge jerk. It's really starting to bug me." I huffed.

"Look, you don't know what she's been through, okay?" He looked at me seriously and I instantly felt bad for what I said.

"…Then why does she act like that?" I ask in a small voice.

Jake rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, and by the look on his face he seemed to be debating telling me something. "Well, I don't know if she'd want me to say anything, but… I know it'd be for the best." He repositioned himself so he was facing me better. He took a deep breath, "Okay, well… It happened the summer before our Junior year. It was the hottest summer we've had in years…" Jake looked down at his hands and I could tell that this wasn't going to be a pleasant story. "Anyways, her brother, Jackson, had been outside most of the day one time and he became very over-heated. Their parents had him come inside and drink some water but nothing seemed to be working… He just kept getting sicker. Jackson eventually started hyperventilating and had a fever over one-hundred and five. Obviously they brought him to the hospital but… but there was nothing anyone could do. Jackson died nearly an hour later that day."

I sat there in complete shock when Jake finally turned his gaze up to look at me. Tears lined his eyes, but they wouldn't fall. I couldn't believe that Miley and her parents had to go through something so tragic. "Oh my gosh…" I whispered. "That's…That's horrible…"

Jake nodded, "I know. It devastated all of them. Robbie, her father, was in shock for a long time after that happened. Susan, her mother, went into depression for a while, and Miley… Miley shut out everyone around her. For the rest of the summer she would stay up in her room crying. The reason she's so angry all the time is because it's mostly hot here, and the heat is what killed her older brother. It's the one thing she can't escape from that reminds her of his death. Acting the way she does is just her way of dealing with it."

I couldn't speak. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? "I-I didn't know… I would've been nicer to her or"—

"It's okay." Jake cut me off. "That's why I told you. So you could understand. I know her attitude really sucks sometimes, but there's at least a good reason behind it. I know it might be hard, but… maybe you could try to be nice to her even if she doesn't act nice towards you."

"Well, now that I know why she does that, then it'll be a whole lot easier." I looked up to face his beautiful blue eyes. "Thanks for telling me." I smiled.

Jake smiled back. "No problem." Before we knew it, the warning bell to get to class rang. He stood up and extended his hand to me, "Shall we?"

"Sure." I blushed and took his hand. Then, we both headed towards class. Even though Jake was right here next to me, all I could think about was Miley. I couldn't concentrate in my next class. I felt horrible for being so rude to her. Hopefully there was some way I could make up for it.

-----

Lunch time finally rolled around and I couldn't have been any happier. For one, I was starving, and second… I still couldn't stop thinking about the story Jake told me. I couldn't imagine how hard that could be on someone. As Jake and I sat down at an empty table, we saw Miley walk in. Jake turned to me. "Let me talk to her for a minute. I'll be right back." I simply nodded and watched him walk towards her.

Miley's POV—

I paused when I saw Jake walking towards me. He had a serious look on his face so I was obviously curious of what was going on. I crossed my arms, tilting my head, once he reached me. "What's up?" I ask.

"Um…Can we talk in the hallway for a second?" He looked nervous.

"O-Kay… Sure." I reluctantly followed him out to the hallway. I glanced at Lilly before we exited the lunch room. She was just sitting there looking at her food. Was something wrong? Did I go too far with being a jerk? My heart started to race. "Jake," I said once we were out of the cafeteria. "What's going on?"

"I need to tell you something, and I really hope you don't get mad at me." He looked at me; his eyes full of worry.

My eyes narrowed. "Why? You didn't ask Lilly out did you?"

"NO. No…But um, I kind of told her something that I thought she should know about you. Um…" He hesitated, and I continued to glare at him. "I told Lilly about… about Jackson…"

"What?!" I snapped.

"I thought she should know!" He said in defense. "You've been really mean to her and she should know why. It was for the best."

"You had no right to tell her that, Jake!" I was fuming. I couldn't believe he told her that. "We just met her yesterday! Maybe I didn't want her to know yet!" Tears brimmed my eyes and I fought as hard as I could to keep them at bay. I will not break. Not here. Not now.

"Miley, I'm sorry, okay?"

"No…" I shook my head. "I don't need this. Know what? Screw you. Just go off and be all buddy buddy with her. I don't care. I don't need you and I definitely don't need her!" I turned on my heel and quickly walked away; tears streaming down my face. I was showing weakness…and I couldn't stand it.

-----

For the rest of the day I made sure to stay away from both Jake and Lilly. Jake had tried to talk to me but I wouldn't have it. I was so happy when the final bell of the day rang so I could just get the heck out of this school. Luckily, Lilly didn't try to say anything to me the rest of the day. Smart girl.

I slammed my locker shut after retrieving my history book, the only homework I had for the day, and shoved it into my backpack. All I wanted was to get home and away from any pity stares I'd get from anyone. Lilly walked passed me while I was on my way out of the building. My heart skipped a beat and I averted my gaze away from her. She couldn't see me like this. I wasn't sure how to act around her now that she knew about Jackson. The memory is still fresh in my mind and I'm so mad that Jake brought it up so soon. I might have told her myself when or if the time was good to do so. All I needed was to get away from them to clear my mind. Pushing the doors open, I walked outside and went straight home.

Living close to the school was always a plus. At lunch, I came here to grab something to eat, and luckily both my parents were away. Walking in, I could smell something cooking in the kitchen; probably dinner. "Miley?" My mother called out.

Without a word, I walked into the kitchen trying my hardest to hide the pain I knew my eyes held. "Yeah Mom?" I gloomily ask.

She gave me a warm, soft smile. "How was school?"

"Suck-tastic," I growl.

"Miley…" She warned. "Watch your language." I just rolled my eyes and took a seat at the table. "Oh, your father and I have something we want to ask you… Once he gets home that is." She smiles.

"Yippie…" I say with no enthusiasm. Then, I pulled out my history book, deciding I could easily finish my homework now and not worry about it later. Plus, it could keep my mind off of…things…

Around twenty-five minutes later, the front door opened and closed, signaling my father was home. "Honey, I'm home!" He called to my mom. When he walked into the kitchen, he gave my mom a quick kiss and a hug. "Hey, bud." He turned to me.

I didn't look up from my homework. "Hi…" There was a short silence so I looked up to see my parents looking at each other.

"Miley," My Mom started while they both took a seat at the table with me. "We were thinking that this weekend we could invite the Truscott's over for dinner. You know, to welcome them to the neighborhood."

At this, I look up. "You have got to be kidding me," I glared.

"Miley," My Dad gave me a look. "It's the polite thing to do. Besides," He smiled, "Maybe you and the daughter could become friends."

I slammed my book shut. "I don't need anymore friends! Jake's enough and I'm not even happy with him right now. Do we have to do this?"

"Yes." My Mom confirmed. "Besides, maybe the daughter could end up _liking_ you… If you know what I mean." She smiled.

Is she serious? She's trying to hook me up with the new girl? "No. I don't want anything to do with this! And I don't need you to 'hook me up' with anyone, alright?!"

"Miley Ray Stewart!" My Dad yelled. "We are your parents and you will treat us with respect! All we want is what's best for you."

"Maybe what's best for me is for people to just leave me alone!" I grabbed my book and walked away in a huff up to my room. This day seriously sucks, and this weekend wasn't going to be any better. After slamming my door shut, I tossed my books aside and flopped down onto my bed. Jackson's senior photo sat on my nightstand and I reached out for it. I held it close to me, tightly closing my eyes. "I need you, Jackson… Please…"

------

I had been avoiding Lilly all week now. Every time I passed her in the hallways at school, I could tell she may not mind coming up to me and had an interesting look in her eyes, sort of saying she won't leave. But I didn't dwell too much on that. I was also still upset with Jake. Couldn't my parent's just understand that I didn't need this right now? Nope, cause they just had to do it without asking me first. It's just fine for them to ignore their daughter on that end of the deal now isn't it?

_It's no big deal_. _It's no big deal_, I thought to myself while sitting on my bed and staring straight ahead at the wall. I had been sitting on my bed for the past half hour. I was just simply thinking about dinner tonight. Yeah it was that dinner, that time already. The week had flashed before my eyes and now came the weekend. But I tried to keep telling myself that it's no big deal. I mean sure Lilly knows about Jackson now, and I might be starting to weaken around her. That could only be from the fact that I like her. But she has a boyfriend anyway, of course. And now my Mother wants to hook me up with her somehow. It's no big deal though right?

Suddenly something loud and obnoxious knocked me out of my thoughts. Doorbell. Maybe, just maybe if I stayed real quiet up here they may not notice I'm not there. They could all get to talking and…

"Miley!" Mom shouted.

Shit. I was missed.

"Miles, get down here, the Truscott's are here. We don't want to start dinner without you, so hurry."

I rolled my eyes as I sighed heavily. Then I got up from my bed and opened my door to start going down the stairs. Down the stairs to the dullest dinner I'm sure it would be. Once I arrived at the bottom, everyone turned towards me. I gave my best fake smile again. Works every time.

"Hi…again." I said a bit quietly to Heather and shook her hand. "Well uh, how about we start eating?" I suggested and started walking to the table, passing my Mom on the way.

"But Miles, what about-"

"I said let's eat Mother." I mumbled with a slight growl.

As I sat down everyone else did the same and we all started eating. Different conversations soon broke out here and there. Some with my parents and Lilly, once with me and Lilly's Mom, but mostly her and my parents did most of the talking. I used to be the known type to jump in and start up something fun. But since I was so not in the right mood tonight, all I did was look down at the table and eat my dinner. I kept on my fake smile when someone looked my way, other then that, I looked back down at the table and continued to be moody.

It had been about half way through dinner now and I continued to hear a bunch of chatting, but then I realized a voice was missing. A voice I always yearned to hear. I slowly looked up from my plate, still rested my head on my hand though. Then sitting right across from me was Lilly. I hadn't even noticed she was there when they first got here; I must have been so focused on my mood.

Then once I looked up at her, a bit startled that she was right across from me, something interesting happened. Lilly smiled at me. It was a small and simple smile, but it was still for me and for what reason? I didn't know. It also looked a bit eager, as if she was waiting to catch my eye. Even though I was confused and wasn't sure what to do, I did the first thing that came to mind…I gave her a smile back, it didn't feel so small though.

And that right there was my first sign of weakness.

Once everyone was finished with dinner, Mom brought out some homemade cookies for dessert. They decided it would be fine to take it into the living room, so we sat in there and they continued talking. Although I still had no idea what they were conversing about, it still bugged the hell out of me. I would occasionally hear my name amongst their talking, I didn't care, my mind was elsewhere. I was so focused on Lilly, who sat in front of me again, this time in the living room. She still hadn't jumped into the conversation either. I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts by my Mother speaking to me.

"Miles, why don't you take Lilly on up to your room? Maybe give you two a chance to get to know each other better." I guess she could tell I was bored out of my mind too.

"Mom it's fine, really. I really don't have-"

Lilly jumped up from her seat. "Yeah come on let's go, _Miles._"

I thought of glaring at her, but I was also confused as to why she suddenly jumped up like that and used my nickname when she knew I didn't want her to. So I felt the look I gave her turn out to be strange. "Uh, oh, oh ok let's just go up…let's go upstairs then…t-to my room," I said slowly and got up from my seat, then lead the way to my room.

Lilly was following quickly behind me. Maybe she felt the same way I did, anxious to get away from all the talk that I couldn't keep up with. Then once we were both in my room, I shut the door behind me.

"It's uh…cool room, I like it." Lilly looked around my room, noticing some awards for different horse races and competitions on my walls. There were also various photos of me and my family and some pictures with Jake. Then Lilly went over to my desk and sat down on the chair.

"Well thanks," I said calmly and sat on my bed. Then I noticed Lilly's eyes avert towards my nightstand.

"Who's…oh is that-"

"Y-yeah, yeah it was him." I didn't want to dwell on this conversation much further otherwise she would see more of my weakness. So I decided to start a new subject. One that I only hoped I was approaching in the right way. "Hey listen, the first day you got here, I was on my back porch when I heard you talking on the phone," Her eyes went wide. "I didn't mean to eaves drop or anything, but I was just wondering if you really have a boyfriend then?"

"W-what do you mean you didn't mean to eaves drop? If you weren't going to, then why didn't you just leave?"

"If you could suddenly know about my brother without permission, than why can't I just ask a simple question? Who is Oliver anyway?"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault that Jake told me in the first place. And yes I have a boyfriend, his name's Oliver."

"Alright fine, so it wasn't your fault then. But what makes you think you can keep a long distance relationship? Those never work out you know."

"Excuse me? I think I can figure those things out for my self alright. Gosh, I thought if I were nicer to you, you'd lighten up a little." Lilly almost shouted.

"Alright, alright I'm sorry!" I shouted now.

Lilly's eyes went wide with confusion. "W-what?" She almost whispered.

Did I just apologize? I think I just did. "I think I just apologized to you…great, it's said and done and let's just move on." I said a bit frustrated with myself now. Lilly was seeing a whole new side of me and I didn't like that idea that I brought upon myself so fast. "So um…tell me a bit about Oliver…" I asked, as much as I didn't want to, but still thought I should. But Lilly didn't answer that question, instead she dwelled on the fact that I had said sorry.

"No wait Miley, you apologized, that's…new. That's certainly something I haven't-"

"I know I know, you haven't seen this side of me before. But could we just not make it a big deal please? I mean there really isn't much of a reason to is there?"

"Well you're always just…you. At least that's only one side of the Miley I've gotten to know. So I guess I just wasn't expecting that." She said softly as she walked over to my bed and then sat down next to me. I was surprised and thought about scooting over, but after what she asked next, I stayed still. "So I'm guessing there's more?"

"No Lilly, that's all. Just Jac…just my bro…I was just frustrated. And I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Can you just tell me about Oliver? Like how's he doing right now? Or what'd you guys do to spend time together before you came here?" I just wanted to switch subject gears quickly and I think Lilly got the hint too.

"Oh yeah, ok well he's a really nice guy and he's doing great right now. He really misses me and said he won't look at another girl, cause he only wants to be with me. And before I left…oh, well uh you probably wouldn't want me to go into detail on something like that wonderful night…"

"Ugh Lilly, come on I mean what the…?"

"Wow, I guess that was enough info already. Well what do you expect, I'm 18 you know? Although, you probably wouldn't know much about that kinda stuff when you're living out here in the desert."

I can't believe she just said that. I scoffed at the smirk on her face. "I do too."

"Do not." She shot back.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too." A giggle escaped me now.

"Do not." It rubbed off on Lilly and she laughed a little too.

I smiled, "Are we…?" I started to ask Lilly, confused about the small amount of fun we were having.

"…Yeah, I think we are," She answered me, smiling just as well. "Feels good to get along with someone doesn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah I guess it does." I sighed and then noticed the clock on my wall, "Whoa, it looks like it's getting late. I hope my Mom doesn't think I'm up to anything. Well we should head downstairs now." I said and walked to the door.

"What? Why would your Mom think you're up to anything?" Lilly asked curiously, as she walked towards me.

"Oh uh, sh-she wouldn't. I was just, just thinking out loud really." I chuckled and opened the door. Then we both walked out and back downstairs to the living room.

"Hey Mom, it's gettin kinda late and Lilly wants to go home."

"Yeah you're right we probably should be going home Lilly." Ms. Truscott said.

"But Miley you just-"

"What? I didn't do anything." I folded my arms, giving her a suspicious glance.

"Then why did you just say-"

"Say what? Lilly I think you guys should go now."

"Alright then I'll see you around Miley." Heather said to me. "And it was great getting to know you two as well." She said to my parents, "Thanks so much for the warm welcome to this town and I believe Lilly's even having a good time too. Right sweetie?"

Lilly looked at me a bit annoyed. "Uh huh," She replied simply.

"Well feel free to come on in anytime." My Dad said as we walked with them to the door.

Just before Lilly walked out the door, I said to her quietly, "Lilly you have no idea."

She stopped, "What?"

"Do too." I smirked. She smiled back, knowing I had been faking her wanting to leave this whole time.

"Whatever you say. Bye Miles."

-----

**AN: Alvinfan- Thanks for reading. I know this chapter was much longer, but that's a good thing, right? Lol. A couple things happened here, and there's still plenty more to come. Leave your thoughts; they're always welcomed and much appreciated. Thanks again!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N 1- Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Like, a week or 2 ago, I ended up getting sick. So yea, that didn't help with writing at all. Lol. Anyways, we had fun writing this chapter, and we hope you enjoy it :) Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews too. You're all the best :-D**

**A/N 2- Howdy. Well The Idiot's back! And now AlvinFan and me both hope you enjoy this chapter. We sure did! Especially since it's really long and full of just…drama! That should make up for two weeks right? **

**Well anyway, there's a really cool song in this chapter that we 'borrowed' from, Of A Revolution, (O.A.R). The songs called, Shattered. It is like a really, really cool song. Like really good. Go listen to it right now. Yeah ok, stop listening to me and just read on and enjoy…please :D**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 5"**

Miley's POV—

The next week, after Lilly and her Mom had come over for dinner, had been…interesting. Lilly and I exchanged more smiles, greeted each other, and sat next to each other in the classes we had together. By the end of that week, I was starting to feel happy. Things were finally falling into place and the next step was probably talking to Lilly, about me now.

But then something started to come and annoy me, in the back of my mind. I felt as though I was forgetting something, or rather someone. It was Jake. A lot of good actually came from him telling Lilly what happened. I think it was about time I should forgive him now.

Once lunch came, I saw Jake sitting alone. I motioned to Lilly to follow me and sit with him. She hurried over to me, from getting her lunch from her locker, and we walked over to sit with Jake.

"Hey Jake, listen I just want to say something." I told him as Lilly and I sat down. He looked up from his food, a bit shocked at the sight of me there.

"Miley? But I-"

"I-I'm sorry Jake…" Then the two went silent for a moment. Gosh, I know it was a rare thing to hear from me, but the least he could do was say something.

"You're sorry?" Jake said. That's it?

"Shocking…I know." Lilly said suddenly. I rolled my eyes at the useless commentary.

Jake turned to Lilly slowly with a surprised look. "She actually apologized to you?"

"Yeah, I think it was from part of what you said that helped and also-"

"Guys, could you just shut up?!" I partly yelled. They looked over at me, mouths shut, "Thanks. Yeah Jake, I thought about it and figured I should at least say…that, because I blew up and got so angry at you last week."

"Thanks Miles, I appreciate it. But I realize now that I'm the one who should be sorry. It really wasn't my business to say anything about that and it was also too soon."

"It's alright, although I have to admit I probably wouldn't have said anything about it soon anyways. So I guess…in a way, I should thank you." I smiled a little at him.

"Really? Thanks Miles." He gave me a big smile and we gave each other a half hug. It was nice to finally be out of our fight and be friends again. Lilly was right, it felt good to get along with people.

Lilly's POV—

The rest of the school day felt more calm to me. Now knowing that Miley and Jake weren't fighting anymore, made everything more at peace.

After school, Miley and I started walking home together. "Well I guess I'll see you later then?" Miley suddenly said. I looked ahead of me and saw our houses.

"Wow, that was a quick walk. Yeah, see you around then." I said to her as we parted ways and into our houses.

I only got one assignment that day, which I finished easily and quickly. After that I was just plain bored. Then I heard some weird noises coming from my backyard. I looked out my bedroom window. I found I could see most of Miley's backyard from my room. I saw a huge barn filled with horses. Of course, that's what the weird noise was.

Then I had an idea, one that would free myself from boredom. I found some old tennis shoes in my closet and put them on, as well as a plain t-shirt. Simply thinking that since Mr. Stewart said we could come over anytime we wanted, why not go look at their horses? And possibly show that cowgirl I wasn't such a city girl after all. So that was my plan. On the way out of my house, I told my Mom where I would be. And then I continued walking the short distance to the Stewart's backyard.

I reached the barn in no time, happily smiling to myself. I could show Miley that I was tough. I knew I was. I just didn't quite get why I cared so much about…impressing her? I don't know, it's weird. All I knew was that I could prove to her I wasn't some whimpy city girl. I surf and skateboard after all! I've had my fair share of cuts and bruises… and broken bones… Anyways, I was tough!

Cautiously, I rounded the corner of the barn. Even with permission, it still felt weird being on someone else's property without warning. When I took a peek into the barn I saw Miley working on pulling some hay into the corner by the stalls. My eyes widened in amazement as I took a look at the gorgeous horses. I didn't think they'd be so big…

"Lilly?" I heard Miley ask me with curiosity. "What are you doing here?" She sets down a rake… I think… and walks over towards me.

"Oh, um sorry… I just wanted to see the horses," I reply shyly. "I'll leave if you"—

"No!" Miley interrupts me quickly. "I-I mean, no… That's okay. You don't have to go."

I gave her a small smile, "Thanks." Slowly, I walked further into the barn, taking my time to glance at the horses. "They're beautiful…" I turn to face Miley to see that she was eyeing me.

"Thanks." We both ended up walking next to each other while I examined the horses. "This one," She starts, pointing to a light brown horse with a white spot on its head, "is mine. Her name's Stella. I got her when I was ten, so I've had her for like, about 8 years now."

"That's cool," I smile. "So, um… Is there anything I can help with at all?"

Miley gave me a questioning look, "Um, I guess…" She looked around the barn, "I suppose you could help me feed the horses. Or is that too gross for you?" She smirks at me.

I raise an eyebrow at her, "No… It's not too gross for me. I'd love to do it."

"Alright, city girl, follow me." Miley motions with her hand and I follow. Soon, we're next to a big barrel filled with food, and it smells really, really bad. Miley catches me plugging my nose. "Too gross?" She smirks again.

I quickly try to make it look like I was simply scratching my face. "No. Not at all," I cough.

"Uh-huh… Anyways, just grab a bucket, fill it with food, and follow me into the stables, okay?" She asks, looking at me.

I simply nod. Grabbing a bucket, I quickly fill it with food and follow Miley back to the stalls. I still couldn't figure out why I was so intrigued by her. Even though I knew about her brother, which goes with knowing why she acts the way she does, I still feel like there's a huge mystery to her. I stand back as she unlocks the first stall.

"Okay, now put the food into the large bin off to the side. Think you can handle it?" She smiles.

"I think I'll manage," I smirk back and slowly walk in. I'm a little freaked out that there's a huge horse right next to me, but I do my job and slowly walk back out. I turn to Miley with a huge grin on my face. "I fed a horse! That was so cool!"

"Wow," She laughs. "Glad that excited you so much. Maybe you could do my chores for me more often."

"Thanks, but no thanks. But, I'm always willing to help." I couldn't help but smile at her. Which she seems to like for some reason.

"That'd be nice… You'd really do that?" She asks, skeptically.

"Absolutely," I reply, placing my hand over my heart. "I swear."

Miley sticks her hands in her pockets and looks down at the ground with a smile on her face. Is she blushing? "Thanks…" She then picked up her bucket and wondered over to the next horse to feed it. The smile on her face never fading.

For the next fifteen minutes, about, we both finished feeding the horses and refilled their water. Then, we ended up cleaning things out… Which I even had to admit to her was really gross. She just laughed it off. That part took a little longer than the food and water, but I actually had fun.

Miley put down her shovel in the corner of the barn. "See? That wasn't so bad," She smiles.

"I suppose not," I reply while setting down my shovel she let me use. "Anything else we can do?" I ask with excitement.

"Um…" She bites her bottom lip thinking. It's kind of cute… Wait… Cute? My thoughts are interrupted once she starts speaking. "Well, I could show you how to brush a horse if you want. Then maybe how to set up the saddle or something."

"Cool!" I beam.

"I think Stella needs a good brushin' anyways." Miley smiles as she unlocks the stall to her horse again. I wait, leaning against another stall, as Miley brings out her horse. This was all new and exciting to me. She should understand how I could think everything she's showing me is amazing. Soon, Stella is standing in the middle of the barn. "Wow…" I breathe, looking at the amazing creature.

Miley pets the horse on the nose. "Just stand right here and I'll be back with her brush, okay?"

"Alright," I smile. While Miley runs to get a brush, I look back at the horse. She looks so soft and friendly, and I can't help but want to brush her with my fingers. I reach my hand out and take a quick step forward, but quickly regret doing so. I freeze, scared out of my mind as the horse starts making loud noises and rises up onto its hind feet. My mind quits working and when the horse starts coming down, right at me, I close my eyes tightly, fearing the worst is about to happen.

"Lilly! Look out!!" Miley yells. Suddenly, I feel her arms around me, along with a sharp pain on my right shoulder, and soon I'm tumbling to the ground.

It took me a while to realize that my whole body was shaking and something was on top of me. Luckily whatever I landed on was pretty soft. My eyes open slowly to see Miley right above me; my breath hitches in my throat. "Wh-What…What happened?" My voice shakes.

"You somehow startled my horse… But the important thing is, are you okay?" She brings up her hand and slowly moves my bangs away from my eyes. Her eyes lock with mine and for a moment, I forget everything else around us.

"I-I think so…" I try to move my arm, but instead I just feel shooting pain go through my arm from my shoulder. "Ow!!" I hiss in pain.

"What's wrong??" Miley shifts so she's not on top of me anymore.

"My shoulder…" I grab onto it with my left hand. "It really hurts…."

"Oh no, I'm sorry." She said with a very concerned voice and then stood up, "Hold on one second…" She slowly walked over to Stella, "Shh…It's alright girl. I'll brush you later." Miley spoke softly to her and gave her a pat on her head. And then guided her back into her stall and locked it. Then Miley ran back over to me, "Here, let me help you up."

She held out her left hand. Even though my right shoulder was in pain, I still winced when I grabbed it and sat up. Then she helped me stand up by quickly moving around to my side and pushing her other hand on my back. Then I stood all the way up.

I let out a deep breath, "Thanks Miles."

"No problem, now come on over here and sit down." She said and guided me out of the barn.

She still had one hand in mine and the other on my back. The weird thing about this was that it didn't feel weird, it felt…comfortable? Sure we may be friends, but this close? I was interrupted from my thoughts when Miley motioned for me to sit down on a big pile of hay. Once I did, she knelt in front of me.

"Did you make a quick movement in front of Stella, while I was gone?"

"Yeah, I just kinda stepped forward because I wanted to pet her…sorry." I replied, a bit shyly.

"No it's ok, you don't need to apologize, pretty much all horses are like that. They all get spooked easily with any quick movement." Miley sighed, then she inquired about my sore shoulder, "Alright, now where does it hurt?" She looked serious.

"It's just my shoulder but-"

"Which shoulder?"

"My right one, but it's just a bruise I think. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Come on Lilly, horses kick hard. It won't go away fast, now let me look alright?" Miley told me as she reached for the neckline of my t-shirt. Then she pulled the right side of my shirt, just over my shoulder in order to see the sore. My eyes widened and I was suddenly more alert as to what was happening. I felt my skin being exposed and Miley was seeing it. But it was just my shoulder; it shouldn't bother me…should it?

"So uh…how, how's it look?" I peeped out as I suddenly felt my breath become short. I side glanced downward and could barely see my shoulder, but instead I saw Miley inspecting it very closely.

"Oh man, that looks real bad. It's already forming a red circle." She said. I wanted to scream at this new feeling that I didn't know about. Her warm breath that I felt on my shoulder now was just making me so confused. I wanted to shout something about it, but I didn't know what to say or what to do. What's this new feeling? "Let me go get some ice for that, I'll be right back," Miley said as she carefully pushed my shirt back up and then ran inside her house. She was right, within the next minute, Miley was back with a small, soft ice pack, "Alright, set that on there for awhile, but not for too long at a time. This will mostly just keep it from swelling and maybe help the pain a bit too."

Miley gently set the ice on my shoulder, and then I held it from there. But just before she let go, her fingers grazed mine as I put my hand on the pack. There it came again, a feeling of slight shock. I know I just held her hand, but why was I feeling this again? I decided to abandon these crazy thoughts and start talking about something to get my mind on something else.

"Hey Miley, I…I never would have invaded your privacy about your family like that, about Jackson."

"Yeah I know." She said quickly and then sat down next to me. "I didn't think Jake would say that. But we made up you know?"

"All I asked was why you had been being mean to me and well…I guess I got more info then I thought I would."

"It's ok now, I guess. Now you know it's just hard for me to handle, so that's uh…it's how I handle things."

I let out a small sigh of pain and shifted the ice pack, so I could face Miley more. "So, what about him, do you mind…?"

"Well we're only two years apart and we got along well. He was a great guy. And, as Jake probably told you, it wasn't long ago, so it's still pretty fresh. That's why I hate the sun so much." She said and then looked down at the ground. Just before doing so, I saw that her eyes became a bit shiny with tears that she didn't let spill.

I wasn't sure what to say or do, I just comforted her the best that I could. "Uh, well...M-Miley it's ok. Everything's going to be fine alright?" She looked up, tears still hadn't spilled.

"No…no Jackson wouldn't want this, I-I have to be strong. I have to be strong like I always have been." She looked at me seriously.

I looked back at her the same way and gently put a hand on her shoulder. I spoke softly, "It's ok to cry Miles. Not everyone can put on that big, fake smile like you can. And not everyone can stay strong forever or at least for as long as you have been. It's ok to let your guard down every once in awhile and just…just let someone in." I said as I rubbed her shoulder a bit.

"Yeah, yeah I know, thanks Lilly. Hey um, not that I want you to leave or anything, but it's getting kinda late. Your Mom might want you home for dinner about now."

"Yeah you're right, the sun's starting to go down and I didn't even notice." I chuckled, then I stood up and so did Miley. I brushed some hay off my butt and the back of my legs. "Well thanks a lot for the help and the ice."

"Anytime." She simply said.

"And don't forget what I said." I said with a half serious look and half smile.

"Don't worry, I won't. Thanks for that help too." We both gave each other a small smile. Then the grunt of a horse was heard. Miley looked in the barn to see Stella looking at us. "Don't worry girl, I'll let Lilly brush you another day."

"Still talking to horses huh? Well have fun with that and I'll see you later cowgirl." I said with a small smirk and began walking back toward my house.

Miley chuckled and called after me, "Hey, she's a living creature and deserves some conversation. I'll see you later too Lil."

I walked away smiling at the fact that she figured out my small nick name. And I also held the ice pack on my shoulder as I walked home.

------

When I walked inside my house, my Mom was in the kitchen making dinner. Once I shut the door she glanced up quickly, "Hi Lilly, did you have a good time at Miley's?" She said as she looked back down to making the food. Then looked back up at me, I'm assuming it was a second glance, as she had just realized I was holding ice to my shoulder. She dropped what she was stirring and ran over to me, "Oh god, Lillian what happened?! Are you ok?"

"I-I'm fine Mom, really I'm fine. I was just helping Miley feed the horses and clean the barn. But then when I was gonna brush Miley's horse, Stella, and Miley was away getting the brush, I moved too quickly towards Stella to pet her. I only got hit on the shoulder by her hoof, as she stood up on her hind legs. It could have been worse if Miley hadn't run over and knocked me out of the way."

"Wow Lilly, that is quite the story. Is that the only place that you hurt?"

"Yeah, Miley said it's a round, red mark already. But I don't think it'll hurt that long cause the ice is helping."

"That's good to hear, now come over here and sit down sweetie."

I didn't think sitting down would help at all by now. But I knew she was just being my very concerned Mother after all, so I did as I was told. I sat down at the dinner table and then Mom walked back into the kitchen.

"Oh goodness Lillian, would you _please_ be more careful next time you go over to that barn?"

"Yes Mother, I will alright? Now is dinner ready?" I tried to move on.

She rolled her eyes at my sudden subject change and tone of voice. "Yes it is." She walked back to the table with two plates full of spaghetti.

"Cool, thanks Mom." I set the ice pack down and started eating. About a minute later, Mom spoke up.

"Oh I forgot to tell you a little bit about my job." I was interested now and looked up from my food, "It's a nice music business and I've been taught a lot about the recording studio I work at, there in Nashville." I nodded my head out of interest and then took another bite. "Oh, I also work with Mr. Stewart sometimes."

I looked up, "What? We've been living here for awhile now Mom, and you never bothered to mention that?"

"Well I'm sorry dear, but the thought didn't occur to me until just a moment ago."

"It's fine, it's fine, I'm just…" Just what? Instantly thinking of Miley at the mention of the name, Stewart? No way am I telling her that, "…just a bit distracted from today and my shoulder, that's all." I took the last bite on my plate, then stood up and held the ice pack back on my shoulder, "I'll be out on the back deck. I'm gonna make a phone call." I said and then walked away.

Sure it may have been a bit abrupt and maybe rude too, but so many thoughts of Miley taking care of me, smiling when she couldn't stop and just...Miley. It all came flooding into my mind and I couldn't take it anymore, I needed some space. So I went out in the back.

It was rather nice having a wide deck, and I could just lean out here on the ledge and look at the stars. There were so many more out here. I could also see Miley's deck right next to mine. I looked around at the stars for just a minute, also letting the cool breeze of the evening, blow past me. It was the perfect weather tonight.

Then I sat down on the bench out there. I took my cell phone out from my pocket. Grateful the back light was on, so I could see what I was doing, I flipped my phone open and dialed a few digits, then stopped after that. I stared out into space for a moment and thought more about Miley and the weird feeling I couldn't figure out, but at the same time I still liked it. I liked the feeling of her breath so close to my skin. And one of the most confusing feelings, I realized it was so confusing because for some reason, this feeling was amazing to me. It was when I looked into Miley's eyes so closely.

That was it. More of those thoughts, made me think twice about calling Oliver. So I flipped my phone shut. Then I looked up and over at Miley's deck. To my surprise, she was standing there watching me. Even though the back lights on both our houses were dim, I could still make out a small smile on her face. What for I wonder?

Since she was right here now, I figured I may as well return her ice pack. I could use my own now that I was home. So I stood up, walked to the edge of my deck, the closest I could get to hers, and tossed her the ice pack with my left hand. She caught it perfectly. There wasn't that big of a space between the two decks anyway. "Thanks Miles." I said with a quick wink and smile. Then I walked back inside my house.

------

About four days later, I walked over to Miley's in the evening and feeling a lot better by now. My shoulder had been healing faster from icing it each night. Once I walked up to the front door, I heard music coming from the back. It sounded like a guitar and someone singing. It was a beautiful voice. It was Miley's. There was that feeling again. I knew exactly who was singing and thought her voice sounded beautiful. I tried to shrug it off again. And so I just walked around to the back. There was Miley, strumming her guitar and singing a little bit of a song. Then I saw her shift in the bench she was sitting in and look down at a piece of paper. I made sure I was still hidden around the corner of the house. But I still had my head peeked around so I could watch Miley sing. Once she started reading the paper, she started strumming on her guitar. After several seconds of those new and pretty notes, she sang,

_In a way, I need a change  
From this burnout scene  
Another time, another town  
Another everything  
But it's always back to you_

_Stumble out, in the night  
From the pouring rain  
Made the block, sat and thought  
There's more I need  
It's always back to you_

_But I'm good without ya  
Yeah, I'm good without you  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around  
Give me a break let me make my own pattern  
All that it takes is some time but I'm shattered  
I always turn the car around_

_I had no idea that the night  
Would take so damn long  
Took it out, on the street  
While the rain still falls  
Push me back to you_

_But I'm good without ya  
Yeah, I'm good without you  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around  
Give me a break let me make my own pattern  
All that it takes is some time but I'm shattered  
I always turn the car around_

_Give it up, give it up, baby  
Give it up, give it up, now  
Now_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around  
All that I feel is the realness I'm fakin…"_

She gently stopped singing as I walked up to her at this point. "Uh, hey Lil…how, how long have you been here?" She asked, a hint of fear in her voice as well as a look of slight shock on her face.

"Well uh, as much as the small phrase is over used…long enough." I simply said.

"Meaning you heard…?"

"All of it? Yeah…and Miley that was amazing," I quickly walked over to her and sat down next to her, "You're so good at playing that guitar and your voice is beautiful." I was just so excited at what I heard, it just spilled out about how great she is, but more than I wanted had slipped out. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even thinking of saying she was beautiful. "You know, you know you've got a great voice right?" Damn! That was a lame cover up. Why would I even need one in the first place?

"Uhu…yeah thanks Lil," She chuckled at my nervous look and pathetic cover up. "I wasn't finished with it actually, I'm almost done. Do you wanna hear the rest?" She breathed out deeply. Nervous as though she had never really sang face to face, to anyone before.

"Of course, I'd love too!" I sounded over excited, but she just smirked and continued,

_  
Taking my time but it's time that I'm wasting  
Always turn the car around_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around_

_Don't wanna turn that car around  
I gotta turn this thing around_

Miley finished off with a gentle voice and then ended the song gently with a few more strums of her guitar.

She looked up from her guitar and looked into my eyes. I had been looking at her, so we locked eyes once again. There was that feeling again. In fact it had started as soon as I heard her singing more and more. And now I wanted to tell her how amazing everything was. But once we locked eyes again, my breath got caught in my throat. I had to try and speak soon though as she began to look nervous.

"That was really cool Miles," I said sounding a bit breathless. And now possibly making this scene look more dramatic. "It was filled with everything; some romance, drama, and just, just…breath taking." She smirked at me, still looking into my eyes, "That was really amazing. I bet it must be for something. Is it for anything or…anyone?" I was curious now.

We were still looking at each other and Miley had a different look in her eyes now, as though contemplating or debating with herself about something. Then after several seconds she spoke, "Yeah…" She said softly.

I waited a second, it sounded as though she didn't want to say much. But I had gotten this much info, I had to know now, "…Well uh, what's it for?"

She took a deep breath, "You Lil. I…I have feelings for you. I've kinda tried to hide it, which I'm not sure I've been real successful at. But I think you should know now." Miley finished confidently.

I sat there in complete shock. I didn't know for how long; it could have been forever and I wouldn't have noticed. She…She had feelings for me? I tried to say something, but nothing would come out. What could I say? "Y-You… What?" I ask in confusion.

Miley's POV—

I think I just made a huge mistake… My stomach churned at the thought of ruining the friendship I just started to build with her. My left hand grips harder on the fretboard of my guitar as I look down, away from her eyes. "I…I really like you." I finally look back up at her; she's still staring at me with a shocked look. "I don't want this to ruin things, but… I can't really keep how I feel about you to myself anymore." She still doesn't say anything, and that's when I start to panic. "Lilly… please say something," I beg. I feel so pathetic. "I know it's kind of sudden, but"—

"No…" She starts, holding up her hand to stop me. "It's fine, I just… Um, I just don't know what to say I guess."

My face scrunches in confusion. "So… you're not disgusted with me?"

Lilly stands up and walks over to the railing of my deck. "No, I'm not. I just… I don't know…" She sighs and looks up at the sky.

Slowly, I set down my guitar and walk over to stand by her. My hands are shaking and I seriously don't know what to do right now. "Look, um… I know you have a boyfriend. I get that. But, I'm not going to hide how I feel about you. If I've learned anything in life, it's that you shouldn't waste time on hiding feelings. Because before you know it, something could happen and you'll never get that chance again."

I study her while she thinks about something. Mind reading would be great to have right now… I really want to know what she's thinking. "Miley…" She sighs. "I can't talk about this right now. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I ask, hurt. "Lilly, you've found out pretty much everything there is to know about me in the short period of time that you've known me. The least you could do is tell me how you feel." I plead.

She shakes her head. "I can't… I need time to think, okay?" Then, she walks past me, off the porch, and heads over to her house.

When she goes inside her house, I turn and kick the chair I was sitting on. I knew letting her in would be a mistake…

**

* * *

A/N: Ok I'm gonna take control of the ending a/n this time. (yes, this is the idiot here). Well hopefully you caught that one small line in the song, our title ya know. (my idea!), If you didn't catch it, well I just told ya so. Anyway please review, we always do appreciate it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N 1: AlvinFan here, once again! I always say this with like, every story I write, but sorry for the long wait. Stuff goes on, Holidays, etc. But here we are, with our next update. Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter. Enjoy!**

**A/N 2: Yeah ok, 'The Idiot' here, is agreeing and saying kinda the same thing, Holidays! I think that was the biggest hold up right there. *cough* alvinfan's fault *cough*. Nah jk, now I won't go pointing fingers ^ lol. But anyway, over 3 weeks of an update wait, seriously won't happen again, sorry 'bout that. Yes thanks for the reviews, blah blah, last chapter, oh and enjoy!**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 6"**

Miley's POV—

I slowly rounded the corner in the school hallway near my locker. For the past couple of days, I have been avoiding Lilly at any cost. It didn't seem like she minded that much either… Which sucks. I can't believe I was dumb enough to spill my guts out to her like that. But hey, she caught me off guard anyways.

Jake walked up to his locker and I was relieved to see that Lilly wasn't with him. Quickly, I walked over to him. "Hey, Jake," I greeted.

"Hey, Miley," He smiled. "How come you and Lilly haven't been talking? I thought you two were getting along now." Jake sounded so concerned, and that's one thing I loved about him.

"Well…" I started, scratching the back of my neck. "I, um, I kind of told her that I have a crush on her…"

His eyes widened, "What?? Are you serious?"

"Wait… She hasn't told you?" I was beyond confused. I totally thought she would have told him by now.

"No. I figured something was off with her, but I wasn't really sure. How did that happen anyways?" We both leaned up against our lockers.

"I was sitting on my back porch playing a song I wrote…" I stuck my hands into my pockets, looking down at the ground. "I didn't see her walk in, but she heard it and absolutely loved it. Then, when I finished it, she asked what it was about and… I told her it was about her. I didn't know what else to do."

Jake nodded understandingly, "I see…" Glancing at me, he smiled, "You know, I've never seen you open up to someone so much in a long time. Maybe this is a good thing."

I sadly nodded my head, "If it's so good, then why isn't she talking to me?"

"Miley, she's probably just shocked. Look, I'll talk to her, okay? If you want me to of course."

"Sure, I mean I don't know how else to find out if she hates me or not," I sadly state.

"Lilly doesn't hate you. I'll talk to her and we'll all sort this out, alright?" He smiled.

"Thanks, Jake," I smiled. With a sigh, I turn to open my locker. "I really, really like her. But she has a boyfriend and apparently they have slept together…"

"They've been dating before we even knew her. It shouldn't matter if they've slept together or not. Besides, you and I have slept together."

Ugh, did he have to bring that up? "Jake, I thought I told you to never bring that up. We were both upset and vulnerable; it just happened."

"I know, I know. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't be upset about it." A moment of silence fell between us as we gathered up our books for our next class. Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw him smirk.

"What are you smirking about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing… It's just, that night wasn't completely horrible was it?" He smiled again.

I smacked him upside the head, laughing. "Oh, of course not, Jakey. It was the night I absolutely _knew_ I was a lesbian. So, I guess I should thank you."

Jake's face fell and I couldn't help but laugh harder at that. "Gee thanks, Miley. I really feel like a man now."

"No problem." Before I knew what I was doing, I pulled him into a hug. Jake was my best friend, and there wasn't a day where I wasn't thankful for having him in my life. If I were straight, I would totally date him. "Thanks, Jake…" I softly whisper to him.

"Anytime. I'm always here when you need me." I keep smiling; I don't think I've smiled this much in like… over a year.

Suddenly, the bell rings to get to class. Shoving our books into our bags, we both rush off towards class- laughing.

Lilly's POV—

I've been sitting in the empty classroom for the past thirty-five minutes thinking. I still couldn't get over the fact that Miley had a crush on me. I don't have any idea what to do about it. A girl has never had a crush on me. At least to my knowledge they haven't. I know I'm probably hurting her feelings by not talking to her, but what else am I supposed to do?

I hear the bell ring and sigh. Jake and Miley will probably be in here soon. Suddenly, I see Jake rushing in the classroom with a huge smile on his face, and Miley right behind him laughing. "I beat you, Stewart!" He roared in victory.

"You cheated!" Miley smiled. "But, I guess I'll let it slide." She turns and we make eye contact. Her smile falls.

Jake sits down in front of me. "So…" He fiddles with his notebook. "Haven't seen much of you lately."

"Sorry…" I reply sheepishly. "I've just been thinking is all."

I hear Miley sigh while she takes a seat next to me. Could this be any more awkward? Looking back at Jake, I see that he's looking at me.

"We need to talk later, okay?" He looks at me seriously.

"Um… Okay?" Why do I have a feeling it's going to be about Miley?

------

A few more classes went by and soon it was time for our lunch break. I wasn't with Miley right now, so I had no idea where to sit. But as I looked around the area I saw Jake giving me a small wave to sit at his table. Although sitting next to him was Miley, bowing her head and looking in another direction. I hesitated for a few seconds, then just figured I would sit on the bench across from them. So I walked toward the table.

"Hey Lilly, so-" Miley suddenly looked his way and glared. "Oh uh, one second," Jake said a bit nervously at Miley's sudden look. Then he turned around to his backpack, did something real quick and then turned back around. "Alright well…" Suddenly Miley's phone rang. "Oh Miles, do you have to go?" He said in an odd tone of voice.

"Uh yeah, it looks like it's my Dad, but I'll be back in a few. See you later." Miley put her phone to her ear and walked away to some hallway.

Now that was even odder. Her tone of voice sounded real casual. But I decided to shrug it off. At least she was gone for now and leaving me with Jake who might possibly start up a conversation about her.

"So Lilly, I wanted too talk to you about Miley." He said in a small voice. Yup, I was sure right. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, what about?"

"Well uh, believe it or not, she has feelings for when it comes down to love. She can get sensitive about-"

"She told you?"

"I'm, I-I am her best friend after all, so what would you expect?"

I leaned on my arm and sighed, "I don't know, I guess I should have seen it coming. It's not a big deal really. Sorry, you just caught me off guard. Anyway, what'd you want to say about her?"

"Well she's just having a hard time waiting. Mostly anticipation really; listen I know she's not showing it, but Miley's really anxious to know what your thoughts were after that song she wrote. I mean you just can't take this much time to think about something that big. Miley spilled practically everything to you that night. Are you gonna say anything anytime soon?"

"Look, I'm taking my time…"

"But it's time that you're wasting." Jake smirked as he thought of his clever comment. "Face it Lilly, you and I both know you've already thought things through, but you just don't know what to say or what to do about it."

I looked down at the table for a second; Jake was sure smarter than I thought. He was right about a few things too; I had thought about it and I don't know what to say. But that's only because I'm not sure of my feelings yet, so I'm pretty sure he's not thinking the same thing.

"I… I just don't know what to say to her," I reply honestly. "I'm just really confused…' I say as I lay my head into my folded arms on the lunch table.

"About what?" Jake asks suspiciously.

I lift my head up to look at him. "Can we talk in the hallway?" I ask, picking up my sandwich.

"Yea, sure." Jake picks up his lunch as well and follows me into the hallway. I'm glad to see that it's secluded because I think I would die if anyone heard me say what I was about to tell Jake. "So," He starts. "What's up?"

I look into his eyes and sigh. I didn't even know what the hell I was doing right now. "Well, um… The thing is, I-I'm…" I can't finish. Slowly, I slide to the floor. I suddenly lost my appetite.

Jake sits down next to me, "You can tell me…" He then takes my hand in his, giving me a squeeze of encouragement.

I look down, away from his eyes. "I've never had to deal with this before… I'm confused. Honestly," I say, laughing dryly, "I don't exactly know how I feel. Like, I don't know if I like her back or not." At this, I look at him, to see if he understands. He smiles, so I continue. "Every time I'm around her, I get this weird feeling in my stomach. I don't know what it means, and it scares me… If I say anything to her, then her hopes will get up. And if I decide that I don't feel that way, then I'll hurt her. That's something I don't want to end up doing, Jake. So… that's why I haven't talked to her yet. I just don't know how to explain things to her. This is all new to me. She's a great friend to have… That much I know. But more than friends? I have no idea…"

There's silence for a few seconds before Jake speaks. "I guess I understand where you're coming from. But, Miley hasn't ever really liked anyone this much before… So it's new to her as well. She's scared; scared that her heart will be broken, and that she'll lose you as a friend. She just needs to know if things are going to be okay or not. I don't think it'll be a good idea to wait too long to talk to her, Lilly."

Great. More guilt to carry around with me. "Fine," I sigh. "Just… Just give me till the end of the day at least, please?" I beg, looking him in the eye.

"As long as you talk to her, that's all that matters to me." He then takes a bite of his lunch and gets up; extending his hand to help me up too. "Come on, let's go back in there to eat."

I took his hand, got up, and followed him back into the cafeteria. When we got back, Miley was sitting back at the table; still looking down. I still had no freakin' idea what to say to her… It'd be easier if she would say something first.

As I sat down in my same position, across from her, she looked up at me and took a deep breath. "Hey Lilly, c-can we talk later? Like after school I mean?" She asked nervously looking deep into my eyes.

"Yeah sure, I'd like that." I smiled. Wow that was a miracle. She basically read my mind, than I didn't know where to begin. Hopefully I can figure out what to say when we talk later. As we walked to class, once lunch was over, Jake just gave me small thumbs up.

------

By the time school was over I saw Miley waiting at the front doors of the school. Damn, that girl was fast. I walked up to her and prepared myself for what was coming next. Although as I was walking over to her, I quickly side glanced at everyone around me, Jake was nowhere in sight. I could tell now that maybe he really does know what he's doing.

"So Lilly, wanna take a little stroll alongside the stretch of fence on the dirt road just outside of town? It's just a few blocks away from here. It's got a really pretty view of stretches of fields and lots of horses and some cows too."

We walked out of the school. I thought about this rather negatively for a moment. I had gone on really nice strolls along the beaches in Malibu. Only now to be resorted to strolls down a dirt road looking at a field. "Alright let's check it out." It wasn't my intention, but I agreed, happily anyway.

We walked the few blocks in silence, then we reached our destination. Miley was right, it was a long stretch of road, with about a five foot tall, wire fence running along side it. We started walking and I looked over to the fields. I didn't think she would be, but she was right about that too. "Whoa Miley you were right, this is a pretty view." I said and had barely noticed my pace slowing to take in everything around me.

"I know, thanks. Yeah nobody realizes how fields of grass and wheat, rolling into stretches of hills can be pretty. They never believe how pretty it is until they actually see it." I broke my gaze from some horses and turned to look at Miley, she was already looking at me and then gave me a small smile, then continued talking, "I love taking Stella for a ride down here and then we just stroll alongside and look as it goes on for miles and the hills get bigger. It's even nicer in the evening, just as the sun is setting. Then I wait all little while longer until it gets dark, because that's when the stars appear and they are so pretty out here."

"Oh yeah I never thought of that, I bet they would be really nice. Oh, didn't you want to talk about something else?"

I saw her look down and blush; she knew what point I was getting into. "Well yeah, I-I did. I mean I still do, but I wasn't sure how to come right out and say it…" We walked along the road for another minute and then Miley stopped and turned to face me, "I've thought about what to say though and Lilly, it's just that I was afraid. I was afraid that I scared you off by telling you everything I felt. I mean I really spilled everything out that night. Then when you said you needed time to think and walked away just like that, I was afraid I really did make a huge mistake. Especially when you never came up to me and asked me why I wasn't talking to you, but now I decided it's time to finally ask…Do you know how you feel yet?"

I did the same thing she did, I took a moment to look out at the field and then turned to face her and replied, "Well first thing is that I wasn't scared, I really did need time to think and I'm sorry if I hurt you by avoiding you as well. I mean you did deserve to know something before now. It's just that I've never dealt with something like this before, it's just all new to me. And honestly, well I can't believe I'm gonna tell you this, but you deserve it since you've told me pretty much everything there is to know about you. Honestly, I just…well I just get this weird feeling in my stomach when…well, when I'm around you. So I guess that makes me more confused. I'm really sorry you have to hear this, but that weird feeling is making me scared and I guess I just need…well, more time to think. I'm really sorry Miley, but I just-"

"Hey it's ok, I get that part about the weird feeling and you know what?" She said to me, smiling a little? "I can understand now that you'd need a little bit more time to think, so it's ok with me Lilly. Just take a bit more time." Miley said with real meaning. No joke or tears, she really did understand.

"Thanks Miles. I…think you're the greatest friend ever." I said as I stepped closer to her and gave her a hug. I think she seemed surprised at first because she didn't put her arms around me at all. After a few seconds though, she realized what I was doing and quickly wrapped her arms around me.

"You're welcome Lil, anytime." She said, into the warm embrace. This was weird, but I found it oddly comforting and…safe. In Miley's arms, I felt safe.

It could have been about a minute we were hugging. I didn't know. But I decided to get my head and thoughts out of the clouds quickly. Regretfully, I pulled away slowly. "Well sorry Miles, but I, I gotta get home and do some homework, I got a lot of it today. Anyway, thanks a lot for taking me over here though, I really like this place and the view. I think I'll come over here at sunset sometime like you said." I smiled.

"Sure no problem. So I'll see ya 'round?" I've always thought accents were cool, but I think that Miley's was the only one I could call cute.

"Yeah see you later." I said with a small wave and then walked toward my house. It seemed that Miley was going to linger there for a little while longer.

Later that night I got a phone call I wasn't expecting. But then again I should have realized I would be getting it sooner or later. And now regretting and feeling more guilty for avoiding Oliver for a long time now. It sat on my desk and rang a few more times. One more ring and then I would miss it. I quickly picked it up and flipped it open.

"Hey," I said in a small voice.

"Wow Lil, it's so great to hear your voice again." Oliver said with relief. I thought it would be nice to hear him again too, but now…now it was just Oliver. It just seemed like listening to my friend Oliver. "It's been awhile you know? So what's been keeping you? What's been going on?"

"Yeah first, it's uh…well nice to hear you again too." I felt as though I forced those words out. "And uh, just the same old stuff has been going on, just school and hanging with a few friends that I told you about. Oh and my Mom's job is going well too." I simply told him. These were facts really. I just left a few out. And the hesitant tone in my voice might have given that away.

"Well that sounds great, sounds like everything's going well. But is that all? You sound like there's something else on your mind." Shit, he could tell there was more.

"I guess that's how things are going as far as everything around me. But as for me, yeah I guess you could say something's on my mind," I sighed deeply and then continued. "I kinda think that this long distance thing isn't working for me Oliver." It was painful, but I knew it had to be said sometime.

"W-What, what do you mean? I thought things were just fine. Lilly what's wrong?"

"I'm just, I'm just confused. I sorta met someone ok? And now I'm just thinking about this long distance thing we've got going and I don't think-"

"Wait, wait back up, you met someone? What do you mean, like as in you like him?"

"Oliver it's like I said, I'm just confused about this. I just need to think it out. Thanks for calling me though. I appreciate it and I'll call you later. Bye."

I flipped my phone shut, too abrupt, but I didn't want the conversation like that to last too much longer. I had told Miley I needed a little more time to think things through because I was confused about the weird feelings I get around her. Now I just told Oliver I was confused and I needed to think more. But now everything was even less clear and I had no idea what to think about.

**A/N (again lol): AlvinFan-- Poor Lilly. Well, hopefully you enjoyed it, cos we sure enjoyed writing it. Leave your thoughts if you wish to :)**

**a/n 2: (the idiot) yeah leave your thoughts if you wish to, from Alvinfans cheesy a/n's. Haha, just joking. Yes, reviews make all authors happy, so go ahead and write whatever you think about it…please… :p )**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N 1: Hey, Alvinfan here. Not much to say except thanks for the reviews (I always say that I know, lol). Otherwise, enjoy the next chapter. Hope you like it!**

**A/N 2: Uh yeah, ya do always say that haha. (The great idiot btw.) But oh well, your a/n so you can say whatever you want I guess. For instance right now; Rock band, DDR, my laptop, iPod, and phone are prolly my most valuable possessions. And Ms. B-day girl, who won't take 'yes' for an answer, prolly doesn't know it'll take forever too stop me from talking to you.**

**(btw, longest chapter yet!) Well ok then, hope you all enjoy the story. I know I did…oh wait I helped write it…ignore my ego and just read…**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 7"**

Miley's POV—

No matter what I did, I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation I had with Lilly yesterday after school. She said that she gets a weird feeling whenever she's around me… How could I not think about it? With a sigh, I pick out my clothes for the day- White t-shirt with music notes all over it, my favorite pair of jeans, and my black converse shoes, and of course the bandanna I always wore around my wrist. I sadly look at it after I get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast.

My Mother is in the kitchen cooking breakfast while my Dad sits at the table reading the paper. "Good morning, sweetie." My Mom greets.

"Morning…" I reply lamely. I then take a seat next to my dad; he lowers the paper to look at me.

"So," He starts, "How are things going with you and Lilly?"

My Mom then places our plates down in front of us. "Yes, how are things going with you two?" She smiles.

I can't help but smile myself, which seems to shock them. "Fine…" I pick up my fork and dig into the eggs. Their eyes are on me; I can feel it.

"Well… That's good." My Mom sits down on the opposite side of the table from me. "So, you two are friends then?"

"Yes, Mom, we're friends. She's…amazing," I smirk. Lilly's beyond amazing in my opinion.

"That's great, bud," My Dad cuts in. "Are her and Jake friends as well?"

"Yea, we're all getting pretty close. I think she has a little crush on Jake though," I frown.

"I'm sure nothin' will happen between them bud." My Dad smiles. "He's your best friend; he wouldn't do that to you anyways."

"Yea, yea…" I continue eating my breakfast, not wanting to talk about this any further. My parents are way too excited about my friendship with Lilly. I finish eating and stand up from my seat. "Okay, I'm off." I pick up my backpack and head for the door.

"Have fun at school!" My Mother calls out. Rolling my eyes, I shut the door behind me and head off to school.

------

Lilly's POV—

I looked out the window in the living room to see Miley walking out of her house. My Mother kept talking about well… nothing really. So, I figured interrupting wouldn't hurt anything. "Mom!" She stops talking and looks at me. "I really need to get going, I don't want to be late." _Or miss walking with Miley…_

"Oh," She smiles. "Alright, dear. I'll see you when I get back from work later. Have fun at school."

"Thanks! Love you, bye!" I quickly say and rush out the door. Miley's already pretty far down the road. "Miley! Wait up!"

Miley freezes and turns around. A grin spreads across her face when she sees me, and my heart skips a beat. "Hey, Lilly," Her grip on her backpack strap tightens.

"Hey," I smile. "So, how come you're walking to school?" I curiously ask.

"It's a nice day out." She looks up at the sky for a second. "I figured it'd be nice exercise too… I haven't really done too much of that lately."

"In that case, I'll be your exercise buddy," I smile brightly at her; getting one back in return.

"I'd like that." We both smile and continue our way towards school.

The walk consisted of the two of us talking about homework, her telling me how weird Jake can be sometimes, which I laugh at, and just many other random things. Nothing in particular. It was nice; just talking. Without her noticing, I take a glance at her. I can't really picture her being extremely rude and hateful towards life or anyone. Even though she was rude when I first met her. Lately, every time I've seen her, she seems happy. Does she really like me that much?

Miley's POV—

Lilly and I finally walk into the school and head to our lockers. I can't help but feel her eyes on me, but I decide to not say anything and keep talking. "I mean seriously, how annoying can one human being be?" I laugh.

"I agree," Lilly laughs with me.

We're at our lockers now and I look around to see if Jake's here yet. It's still fairly early so I'm guessing he's not around. But, I've been known to be wrong. That boy can always surprise me.

"So," Lilly starts. "Did you finish all your homework last night?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Both of us lean against our lockers. "I had a lot of chores to do too, so it was pretty tight with timing and everything."

"I could've helped with that." I look over to see her smiling at me. I swear that smile will be the death of me.

"Yea, well…" I feel a blush creep to my cheeks, so I quickly look down. "I figured you were busy…"

"I'm sure I would've found time to help." She smiles, turns, and opens her locker. Right when I was about to ask her something, Jake walks up to us.

"Hey guys," He smiles. "Man that paper for English nearly killed me last night."

"That's nice. So, Lilly," I smile, but I'm interrupted by Jake again.

"Did you two finish it okay?"

"Yea," Lilly responds. "It was pretty easy… At least I thought so."

Jake senses my glare. "Er… Hey, Miley. Something wrong?"

Both Jake and Lilly look at me, and instantly I soften my look. I realize I'm being immature about Jake talking to Lilly. "No… Just, um…thinking?" It's lame, but it's the only thing that came to mind.

"Right…" He doesn't buy it; I don't blame him. "Anyways, I was wondering if you guys wanted to go swimming sometime after school. It's way too nice out to ignore it."

"Sure!" Lilly and I both say at the same time; smiling. Seeing Lilly in a swimsuit? I'm game.

Lilly's POV—

After Jake said these words, I blurted out just one word. Although, it was only from excitement at the thought of seeing him without a t-shirt and possibly with nicely toned abs. And yet, that one word was said with the same enthusiasm, and at the same time. It was by the person right next to me; Miley had shouted it just like I did.

But Miley and Jake were only friends, so she couldn't have been so excited just about going swimming. After only a few seconds of thinking, I knew what her intentions were. Seeing me just in a swimsuit, at the pool. I suddenly grew a bit nervous at the thought, yet at the same time…ok with it? Well we're friends after all, so what's wrong with that? Of course, she does have feelings for me so it might affect us. Now this just made things more confusing for me. Although if I don't pay attention, and just focus on Jake, it could work out.

"Lilly?" I must have spaced out for too long, I came out of my daze and looked up. There she was, Miley was looking right back at me. "Lilly, anything wrong?"

"Oh I was uh…I was just thinking about swimming. I haven't been in awhile you know so…yeah." I faked clearing my throat, "Well class is gonna start in a few minutes, so we'd better go." I got a few books out of my locker and quickly walked to class. I quickly glanced back at them, confusion on their faces. I had no idea what I was thinking either.

------

Once the school day ended, much confusion still filled my thoughts. It had to be Jake that I was excited to see, it just had to be. When I get to the pool and see Miley wearing, who knows how much she'll wear, maybe that'll help confirm my thoughts. I knew that would not only help confirm the crush I think I have on Jake; it might also let me know for a fact that I'm into guys. But somehow, already deep inside me, I think I know it wasn't true. But I had to know for sure.

I met up with Jake right after school. He told me the directions to the pool area, then said that we'd meet each other there about an hour later. This made it so I would have an entire hour of anticipation, mixed with nervousness. But I figured it was soon enough, so I dealt with it.

I never thought this would be one of the hardest things to do, as a matter of fact I found it quite silly, but it took me half the time to just pick out a swimsuit. I was too confused to figure out who I was trying to impress at this point. So by now, the important thing was to just make up my mind and pick something fast. I only had a half hour before I had to be there. It was only about five minutes away, but I still wanted to make sure I looked good. I didn't have a big selection, but I decided on a light blue two piece suit. I put some clothes over it, told my mom where I was going and began walking there.

Yeah it was a nice day out. Not too hot at all, so just right for swimming in the outside pool Jake explained to me about. Once I got there, Miley and Jake were already sitting in the pool. Once Miley saw me, apparently she thought I needed help finding a place to put my clothes. So she shot out of the pool and right next to my side.

I didn't know what was going on with me. So many emotions were swarming inside me; I didn't even know which one to feel the most of. All I knew was that I couldn't help staring at her. "Hey, Lilly," She says warmly. "Jake and I put our things over here if you want to leave your things by our things."

"Um, yea, thanks…" I shake my thoughts and follow her. I take notice at how cute her butt looks in her swimsuit. Wait… No, I did not just think that. There's no way I just thought that.

"Hey, Lilly!" Jake happily greets. "Come on in, the water's great!" I look over at him and… Wow. He does have abs. Really nice abs… I'm so confused.

"Okay, just one second." I watch as Miley jumps back into the pool. Then, I take off my clothes to reveal my blue swimsuit. When I turn around, I notice Miley looking at me, but she quickly turns her head away; blushing. Shrugging it off… kind of… I casually make my way into the pool. "This is really relaxing. Of course, I'm really used to the Ocean…"

"Yea, I bet this is pretty hard to get used to. But, I'm sure you'll get used to it. This is a really pretty state," Jake smiles.

"Oh, I know. It's gorgeous. It's just hard every morning, waking up to expect to see an ocean outside your window, and its just not there. I lived in California my whole life." I explained.

"We'll help you through it. Won't we, Miley?" Jake asks. A few seconds went by and Miley hadn't said anything yet. Both Jake and I look over at her and she's… looking at me… Am I blushing? Smiling? Oh man, I'm smiling! "Miley!" Jake yells, grinning.

"What??" She panics.

Jake laughs, "Didn't you hear a single thing we were talking about?"

"Um… Yes?" She smiles innocently, and it's so cute.

"Then what were we talking about?" He smugly asks.

Miley glares at him. Why is she all of a sudden so flippin' adorable?? "I-I don't know, okay?" She sighs dramatically and leans against the edge of the pool.

I look at Jake. "Oh stop teasing her, Jake." I smile at Miley, and she smiles back.

"Whatever," Jake says. "Anyways, who wants to play Marco Polo?!" He asks excitingly.

Miley and I both laugh, and agree to play.

-----

A couple hours have passed and we all climb out of the pool. "Whoo!" Jake smiles. "That was fun!"

"Heck yea!" Miley smiles, grabbing her towel. All I've done so far was look at her while she dries off. Shouldn't I be looking at Jake?

Oh. My. God… Miley just caught me looking at her. What do I do?? "Um… I forgot my towel?" I cringe at my lame excuse. Damn blonde moments.

All Miley does is smile. "Here," She tosses me her towel. "Use mine."

"Th-Thanks…" I quickly kicked the towel I had brought with me under a chair and dry off.

"Well," Jake starts. "I think I should be heading home. I've got a lot of things to do. Homework, chores… the list goes on and on."

"Have fun with that," Miley giggles.

Jake starts walking towards the door, but stops next to me. "By the way, Truscott… Thanks."

"For what?" I ask, confused.

"For bringing the old Miley back… It's nice to see her having a good time again." And with that, he leaves, making me feel, well… special I guess. Have I really been that great for her?

Miley and I wave goodbye as Jake leaves. That's when I realize that I'm alone with Miley… At a pool… In swimsuits. And after what Jake said to me, I don't know what to do.

"Hey, do you want to stay a little while longer? Maybe sit in the hot tub for a bit?" Miley asks me.

"Y-Yea, sure. I'd like that…" I follow her over to where the hot tub is and watch as she climbs in; I follow. Instantly, I feel relaxed. "Oh man, I love hot tubs." I smile.

"Me too…" There's a moment of silence between us, but surprisingly, it's not uncomfortable. "So… I take it you liked Jake in his swimsuit?" She smirks.

"Well…" I blush, not sure what to say. What do I say? No, I was looking at you the whole time? No, I don't think so… "He was pretty cute I guess. He's definitely got a nice body going for him though."

Miley laughs, "Yea well, you're not the one who slept with him."

A surge of shock and jealousy erupts within me. "What?? You and Jake slept together??"

Miley's eyes widen. "Uh… I didn't mean to say that out loud." She blushes.

"But… I… How… When??" I couldn't form a sentence. I wasn't expecting to hear that at all.

Miley's POV—

Crap. Crap! Crap! Crap! I didn't mean to say that. I might as well tell her… "Well, what's the big deal? You slept with your boyfriend."

"That's different. We're dating. Unless… Did you and Jake used to date?" She asks.

"Ugh, no way! Look…' I sigh. "It just happened. It was like, a year ago after my brother died. We were both sad and upset, and it just… you know, happened…"

"Oh…" Her facial features soften. I'll never get over how beautiful she is. "Can you… Can you tell me how it happened? If you don't mind telling me that is…"

"Well…" I think back to that day, and how horrible it was; emotionally. I take a deep breath and tell her…

_**~Flashback~ (One year ago)~**_

_It had been a month since Jackson died… yet here I was, still locked up in my room in the dark. I haven't eaten in a few days. How could I? All I wanted was Jackson back. He couldn't be gone… He just couldn't be…_

_Tears rolled down my cheeks and I bury my face into my pillow; muffling my sobs. How could something like this happen?! He was a good guy! He had his whole life ahead of him… It just wasn't fair._

"_Miley…?" I hear someone say my name. Slowly, I look up to see Jake standing in my doorway; a saddened look on his face._

"_J-Jake…" I sob. He's at my side in an instant. I hold onto him, my face against his chest, gripping him to make sure he wouldn't slip away from me either. "I-I want J-Jackson back…" I hiccup from crying._

"_Shh… It's going to be alright…" He places his head against mine, and I can feel his tears dripping onto my scalp. "We're worried about you, Miley… Please come downstairs and eat something with us. Your parents need you right now."_

"_I c-c-cant…" I use his shirt to wipe my eyes, and place my hand back around him. _

"_You need to be strong. Jackson wouldn't want you slipping away, not eating, over him. Please come downstairs… For him?"_

_I shake my head no. How could I do things for him when he wasn't even here? "I'm not hungry…" I whisper._

_Jake takes his hands to cup my cheeks, making me look at him. "Miley, you're way too important to me. I'm not gonna leave you up here like this, alone. You're never going to be alone… I'm always going to be there for you. Always."_

_I gaze into his green eyes, and I don't know what came over me. The next thing I know, my lips are pressed up against his. Tears continue to stream down my face while I bring my hands up to keep him into place. All I knew right now was that I needed him. Then, I slowly pull him down on top of me…_

_**~End Flashback~**_

Lilly's POV—

Miley's words echoed in my mind. That was the second saddest story I've ever heard… She looks up; tears stinging her eyes, and I almost scoot over to pull her into a hug. "So yea… It just happened. We didn't talk about much after that. The only thing he did was ask if I was doing better. But somehow, I think I felt worse, and I didn't know exactly why."

"Miley, I… I'm so sorry." I look at her; saddened.

"Things happen…" She sighs, shaking if off. "Anyways, how… how did your first time happen?" It sounded to me that she didn't exactly want to know.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to…" I assure her.

"Hey, I just told you mine," She smiles weakly.

"Okay…" I think for a bit, trying to figure out how to put it to words. "Well, it was after a school dance, and I invited him over to my house. My Mom wasn't home when we got there, so I brought him up to my room. We just hung out for a bit and we were having so much fun, and I realized that I was ready. So… it happened." When I look over at Miley, I'm happy to see that she isn't bummed out. Or at least she doesn't look it.

"Wow, that's much happier than my story." She smiles.

"Sorry…" I look down, bashfully smiling. Then, I look back up at her, "Do you… Or, did you regret it?"

"No, not really… I mean, I was just glad it was Jake. I trust him. But it's never, _ever _going to happen again," She laughs, and I couldn't help but laugh with her. It was that moment when I realized that maybe, just maybe, I did like Miley in more than a friendly way. I wasn't sure though… But I sure do enjoy being with her, and she makes me happy. And I also gotta admit that her chores paid off in making her abs pretty toned too.

"Well it's getting kinda late and Jake's right, I should probably start on homework too."

"Yeah I guess I should go too, I have some more chores to finish."

"Do you need help with any? Remember I can always help and I know how to do most of it now." I smiled.

"Thanks Lil," She smiled back. "But I don't have many for this evening, so I'm fine on my own."

"No problem."

Miley got out of the hot tub first, dried off, and then handed her towel to me again. I felt a bit silly, knowing that mine was still here, although I still didn't mind borrowing hers one bit. As I dried off, she put her clothes on. Once I was finished drying off, I handed her towel back to her and put the rest of my clothes on too.

"Plus, you wouldn't want to keep your boyfriend waiting for that call every night right?" Miley said as we started walking towards our houses.

"Oh right, that…nope I wouldn't wanna miss that phone call with him." I said hesitantly.

"Lilly? You haven't been calling him, have you?" She said to me, more than asked.

"Well…I've just been busy you know, with homework and stuff."

"Come on, we haven't had that much homework. And plus, from the stuff you've been saying about him, it sounds like he's a great guy, why don't you call him?"

I waited a few seconds and then cleared my throat, "Ok fine, it's like I said, I've just been feeling confused and I don't know what to do about it, so I don't know what to say to him," Although after what has happened today, I think I will. "But you're right, I should call him. I'll do it in the evening like I always do."

"Ok cool. Well it looks like we're home. I'll see ya 'round then?"

I couldn't help but smile at her accent flaring out again. "Yup, see you around." I gave her a small wave and we went in the separate directions towards our houses.

Standing at the railing of my deck again, I think about the homework I just finished. But soon stopped thinking and focused on the reason I came out here in the first place, to call Oliver. The sun was also beginning to go down, so I figured I should get it over with quick. So I flipped out my cell phone from my pocket, dialed his number and waited…this was it, I couldn't put it off any longer. As I heard the phone ring on the other end, I just took a deep breath and prepared myself. Suddenly the line picked up.

"Hey." Oliver softly said.

"H-hey, Oliver." I said a bit nervously. Then walked over to the bench and decided to sit down as we talked.

"I thought you'd never call. I mean I know I could have called you, but you seemed like you had a lot to deal with then, so I decided to just leave things at that and wait."

"Yeah sorry about that, about the way our conversation ended last time. I really didn't mean too, but like I said, I was just confused and I didn't know what to do, so I guess I just couldn't handle talking right then. But I'm not confused anymore Oliver."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean basically…I've decided." Pfst, lame line.

"Decided? Decided what?"

"I'm sorry Oliver, but I got to know someone really well here. And I've gotten to the point where I know them so well that I really like them, as in more then just friends."

There was a few seconds of silence on the phone, then a deep breath, and then Oliver spoke. "Alright ok, so who is he then? Is he someone you've told me about before?"

"Well uh, yeah I've told you about my friend before, but actually, gosh I can't believe I'm about to say this…it's not a guy, it's Miley." I let out a small breath I realized I had been holding a little bit.

Again, silence on the phone. Longer than just a few seconds this time. "So uh, Miley huh?" He stated quietly, more then asked. Then he cleared his throat, "Well does she feel the same way?"

I could hear cracks beginning to form in his voice. It was a painful truth to tell and it killed me to say it, but I had too. Since I felt more for her than I did for him now, he has the right to know. "Yeah, yeah she told me she does. But she doesn't know this; she doesn't know I feel the same way now."

"She doesn't know huh? Have you planned on how to tell her?"

"No, I'm still working on that actually," I chuckled at that. I hadn't thought of yet. "Listen Oliver, I'm really sorry but I just found somebody else. Plus she's here and it's easier. I guess long distance isn't working out anymore. And I'm sorry, but I guess I'm gay."

"I-it's alright Lil. I just…I just want you to be happy, alright? And if she makes you happy, then that's all that matters to me."

"You make me happy too Oliver, but its just become more like friends after all this time. And she just, well there's just this mystery about her and that's what I love about her. But you don't care that I'm gay?"

"Like I said, I just want you to be happy. So no, I don't care at all. When you're in love, you're in love and you can't decide or change who it's with. Love can be unconditional, so it's ok, go get her."

"You really mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean I still like you, but you're my great friend too."

"Thanks Oliver, I really appreciate it. Yeah I will go get her, I'll tell her."

"Cool, so I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yeah thanks again, talk to you later too. Bye." I hung up with a small smile, glad to know that he was still ok. Then I looked up at the sunset, it was beautiful.

I looked back over to Miley's deck, much to my surprise there she was, sitting on her bench and smiling at me. My eye's widened at the fact that she probably just heard the whole conversation.

**A/N: Alright review please, it's always enjoyed. Oh and someone just tell Alvinfan to step up her a/n's a notch…**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN 1: Hello! Alvinfan here. Sorry for the slight delay, hmm prolly something about my dumb homework lol, but here it is. The next chapter. I had been looking forward to writing this one for a while, so I'm excited about all of you reading it. It's a good one, hehe. Anyways, on with the story!**

**AN 2:Totally agreed, says The Great Idiot! It is so a good chapter. Yes I will also apologize, we have been busy with stuff. But over 3 weeks of a delay won't happen again…really. Although I gotta admit and give most of the credit to Alvinfan. I wrote some, but I'd say she did write more. I also agree on that second note of hers, I'm totally looking forward to you guys reading it too. Cause guess what? This chapter is the one you've all been waiting for…the Liley action! Boo yah! Ok stop listening to me and read on to the story….**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 8"**

Lilly's POV—

I couldn't move… I don't even think I was breathing! "M-Miley??"

She suddenly looks panicked. "Sorry, Lilly… I just got out here. Sorry if I startled you…"

"Um, I-It's okay…" I take a moment to calm my nerves. "H-How much of that did you hear…?"

"Well, um…" She scratches the back of her neck. "You broke up with him…"

"Oh God," I panic. "You heard everything, didn't you?" I don't know why I'm freaking out, but I am. I didn't want her to know yet…

"Um, yea… but Lilly"—I didn't give her a chance to finish talking to me. I darted into my house. Before I could make my full escape up to my bedroom, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I knew she'd follow me…

"Lilly, please, don't run away this time." She panics. "I didn't mean to hear anything. My Mom left a book outside and I went to get it. I'm sorry…"

Reluctantly, I turn to face her. Fear took over my body when I realized I didn't know exactly what to say or do. "I-I just… didn't want you to know yet…" I say quietly; looking down.

Miley pulled her hand back, crossing her arms in front of her chest. We stayed silent for a while before she broke the awkwardness of this whole situation. "…Why?"

Sighing, I look up to see she's looking at me; confused. "I… I don't know." Covering my face, I take a seat on the steps. "Everything's happening too fast… I haven't even asked my Mom what she thinks of…this… I just don't know what to do."

Suddenly, I feel an arm placed around my shoulder. Looking up again, I see Miley sitting next to me. Her expression was hard to read, but I knew that she was going to say something positive to me. She always does…

"Look," She sighs. "I don't want you to think you need to rush into this. Obviously, I know how confusing this can be… Maybe taking time to think this whole thing through would be the best thing to do in your situation. You don't have to do anything just to make me happy or anything like that."

I can't help but look at her in complete amazement. "How can you be so cool about all this…?"

Miley bit her bottom lip and I couldn't help but smirk at that. "Because I… I like you. If we end up together, I want it to happen because both of us know we really want to, with no doubts or second thoughts attached."

"Wow," I smile. "You're seriously the coolest person ever." Miley blushes at my comment and I can't help but laugh to myself.

"Um, thanks… So, uh, are we cool then?" She asks, with uncertainty written across her face.

"Yea," I smile. "We're cool…" I pull Miley into a hug and we wrap our arms around each other. The feeling I got last time I hugged her returned. I felt safe. I felt… loved. I then bury my face into her neck, causing her to stiffen slightly, but she eventually relaxed; rubbing my back with her right hand. With a sigh, we both let go of each other. "I still feel bad about all this though."

"Don't," Miley smiles. "It's okay, really. We'll just see what happens." She then stands up. "I should probably head back home though before my Mom thinks I disappeared off the face of the Earth or something."

"Okay," I laugh. "I'll see you later then…" There was a part of me that really wanted her to stay, but at the same time I really wanted to be alone to think about things.

We say goodbye and I smile while I watch her go back to her house. The thing I knew I really needed to do was talk to my Mom about this… but first I think I want to talk to Jake. But, that'll all have to wait until I get my thoughts organized. Knowing what I know now with my feelings, it probably wouldn't take long.

**------**

After a week, I think I finally had my thoughts and feelings organized enough, to put them into words. At school, Miley had been acting the same as she always did. Just like she said to me, she didn't want me to have to feel like I have to rush into things. So I think that's why she was acting like nothing had happened. So now I decided to talk to Jake about it first.

After school, at the beginning of the week, I stopped Jake as he was walking out the doors. "Hey Jake, how's it going?"

"It's going alright, so what's up with you now?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm not that much of a dead giveaway am I?" I asked as we started walking out the doors.

"Uh…yeah Lil, so what's up?"

"Alright, well it's just that, I'm just ready to talk now, about my feelings and about…Miley."

"Seriously? Are you sure?" Jake asked in awe.

"Of course I'm sure; otherwise I wouldn't have said it. You can be a real dork sometimes." I chuckled.

"Yeah alright, just thought I'd check." He smirked and then continued. "Ok so how are things then?"

"Well after I finally thought about it and realized why I get this funny feeling whenever I'm around Miley. Well I just think that I'm…" Why couldn't I say it?

"Gay?"

"Uh yeah that's it and I just, I don't know how to tell her. Well…technically she already knows because she overheard me talking to Oliver on the phone. Then she told me to take my time and not rush into-"

"Whoa, take a deep breath, you're rushing already." Jake chuckled and then I did too once I realized the fast rate at which I had been talking.

"Yeah you're right, sorry. Anyway, all that was awhile ago, so now I'm ready to tell her that I really do care about her and I'm not rushing into things. But the problem is, I'm just not sure how to tell her now." I sighed and slowed my pace a bit.

Jake stopped completely and turned to face me. "Hey don't worry about it, relax alright? Everything's gonna be fine. Just tell her the same thing, well sorta the same thing. Just say that you're ready, you really do care about her and you're not rushing into things."

"That actually sounds good, thanks Jake." I playfully punched him on the shoulder.

"Yeah I'm good like that, no problem." He grinned.

"Oh please," I chuckled; rolling my eyes. I then take my time to look around for Miley. "Hey, um… Where is Miley anyways?"

"Oh yea, she text me saying that she had to head straight home to get chores done. Apparently she has a lot today." Jake explained.

"Ugh," I groan. "I keep telling her that I can help her with chores. Why doesn't she ask me?"

"She doesn't want to be a burden to you. Miley used to beg me to help her with chores. You must be special," He smirked.

Suddenly my face heats up; I'm blushing. "Shut up…" I mumble in embarrassment. Jake just laughs.

"Anyways, I need to get home myself. Math is going to be taking up most of my evening… Fun, fun." He says sarcastically.

This time I laugh at him. "Good luck with that. I'm going to go talk to Miley." I then swing my backpack over my shoulder, preparing to head home.

"Have fun!" Jake teases.

"Shut it!" I shout behind me, and then make my way towards Miley's.

-----

Miley's POV—

I've been home for about fifteen minutes now. Leaving right when the bell rang gave me the thought that I could get my chores done faster and still have time for homework. As usual, it's mostly just math. My least favorite subject of course…

The stables have been refilled with food and I am now working on the water. In a way I hope Lilly shows up. It's been a week since she told me about her confused feelings and whatnot. You could say that I'm a little anxious to know if she's thought about things more or not. With a deep sigh, I bring the water jug over to Stella's cage and start filling up her water bin. "Stella," I say softly. "You have no idea how easy your life is."

Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice that brings a bright smile upon my face; Lilly. "Hello? Miley, are you in here?" She calls out.

"In here!" I shout so she can hear me. For good measure, I peek my head out of Stella's stall. "Hey," I smile.

"Hey," Lilly shyly smiles in return. "How many times do I have to tell you that I can help you with chores?"

"Sorry," I laugh. "I wanted to get this stuff done as soon as I can."

"It can be done much faster with help." Lilly smugly smiles.

"Cute," I say, rolling my eyes. A sudden thought came to mind and I couldn't help but smile; causing Lilly to give me that cute, confused look of hers.

"What are you thinking now?" She wearily asks.

"Something better than chores of course." Lilly watches as I walk over towards her. "How about after you get your homework done, you come back over and, well… I'll surprise you," I smirk.

Something in the way she looks at me changes… and I really, _really _like it. "Sounds good… I'll see you later then."

My lips were parted slightly as I watched her leave. It was then I realized that I wasn't breathing. "Wow…" I breathed out. That look… That voice… I have to know what she's been thinking all week. This is driving me crazy. But the weird thing is… I like it.

-----

After supper I had finally completed my homework. It took forever, but I finally did it. All of a sudden my phone starts vibrating on my desk. Picking it up, I flip it open and smile when I see that it's a text from Lilly… '_Can I come over now? –Lil._'

Looking outside, I notice that it is getting darker outside; perfect. As quick as I can, I reply telling her to come over and meet me at the barn. After flipping my phone shut and putting my cell phone into my jean pocket, I quickly change into my boots, grab a sweatshirt, and head out to the barn.

When I walked out to the back porch I was surprised to see Lilly standing on hers, smiling at me. "That doesn't look like the barn to me," I joke.

Lilly rolled her eyes, still smiling. "I figured we could walk together…" She says while she looks down, and I couldn't tell if she was blushing or not.

Smiling, I make my way off the porch and go to stand in front of hers. Lilly looks at me and I look at her… "I'd like that." She smiles back at me and my heart soars. Never in my life would I ever have thought that I'd feel this way. In seconds she's by my side and we casually walk towards the barn.

"Why'd you want to meet here?" Lilly asks, looking at me.

"I figured we could do something," I reply with a smile.

"Like what…?" She skeptically asks. I have to laugh; she's too cute.

"Follow me…" With that, I walk over to Stella's stall and open it. "I really hope you're not afraid of horses after what happened before." I look back at her, to make sure if this will be okay or not.

Lilly scratches the back of her neck with her left hand. "Well, I'm not so much afraid as I am nervous around them. What if I scare her again?"

Smiling, I lead Stella out of her stall. "Don't be. Just be a little more careful around her and you should be fine." Then I walk over and grab a blanket, draping over Stella's back. After that, I walk over and grab the saddle from the corner of the barn and brought it back over to Stella. Lilly watched with curiosity as I strapped it onto the horse; never asking questions. I suppose I could show her more properly how to put it on later… Tonight was for something else. Even if I wasn't sure what that was myself. Once I get the saddle strapped on, I turn to fully face Lilly, a smile on my face. "Ready?"

Her smile drops and is replaced with a confused look… So. Freakin'. Cute. "Ready for what?" She asks.

Without a word, I pull myself up onto Stella and then hold out my hand for Lilly. "For a ride… Come on." I smile, encouraging her to take my hand.

Lilly looks unsure at first but then she smiles and takes my hand. Carefully, I help her up so she's sitting behind me. "Are you comfortable?" I ask.

"Oh yea…" She breathes. "Very." My breath catches in my throat when she wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head on my back. It never seizes to amaze me at how happy Lilly makes me. I never thought I'd ever be happy again after Jackson died. Slowly, I release my breath, and softly kick Stella's sides to get her going. Then, we were off into the night.

-----

Around ten minutes later, we come up to the dirt road I brought her to once before. Without looking behind me, I knew she was looking up at the sky. "Wow…" She says in complete amazement. "You were right about the stars."

"They are pretty amazing." I look up myself and can't help but think that maybe Jackson is smiling down at me. When I see a good spot to stop, I pull back on the leather rein to signal Stella to stop. "Whoa girl," I state calmly.

"What are we doing here?" Lilly cheerfully asks.

"Figured you could see what a real country side night is like." I smile and then carefully climb off of Stella. After I'm safely on the ground, I help Lilly off. When my hands touch her waist it feels that the temperature rose about a hundred degrees and I forget how to breathe. But once she's on the ground, and I let go, I suck in a breath to calm myself again. "One sec…" I say to her and then guide Stella closer to the fence; tying the rein around the nearby fence.

Suddenly, I feel Lilly standing next to me… Rather closely. "Where're we going?" She softly asks.

"Just follow me," I smile a little and walk off towards the open field. We walk along the fresh grass. When I come to a complete stop, Lilly instantly copies my actions. She looks at me with a confused, yet curious look.

"I'm kinda lost right now, what exactly are we doing out here?" She smiles.

"It's a beautiful night. Why not be out here?" I smirk and then plop down on the ground. The grass is cool against my arms and it always sooths me. Seconds later, Lilly's lying down right next to me. Both of us stay silent as we look up to the sky. The stars sparkle against the jet black sky and the moon shines; giving the world a comfortable night glow. Letting out a content sigh, knowing what I wanted to do, I turn onto my side, leaning my head against the palm of my hand; supported by my elbow. "Lilly…?" I say in a near whisper.

Lilly averts her eyes from the sky to look at me, and I don't think she's ever looked more beautiful than she does in the moonlight. "Yea?" She whispers back.

Pulling myself up so I'm sitting upright, I look down at my bandanna on my wrist. Lilly is soon sitting upright as well. "Have you ever wondered about why I wear this all the time?"

Lilly ponders that for a moment before replying. "I've been a little curious I suppose…"

"Well," I start. "Jackson gave it to me when I was fifteen. It used to be his. But that year I won a horse contest and he was so proud of me, so he gave me his favorite bandanna. I never really wore it that often until after he died. It made it seem like he was still here with me…" Tears sting my eyes when I think back to the day he gave it to me. "It kept me from completely falling apart."

My eyes close when I feel Lilly rest her head against my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Miley…" She whispers. "I wish I could take the pain away for you."

A small smile forms on my lips as I lean my head against hers. "You have…" She pulls back to look at me with an unreadable expression. "I mean, it's obviously not completely gone, but… I was miserable for so long, thinking that nothing good would ever happen in my life and that I'd never be happy again. Then one day, out of the blue, you show up. I feel like things are possible again and well…" I slowly take off the bandanna; take her right wrist in my hands, and start wrapping it around her. "That's why I want you to have it."

Lilly's POV—

My mouth hung open slightly and I could feel the tears brim my eyes. She was actually giving me something that important to her?

Miley finishes wrapping the bandanna around my wrist and looks up to meet my gaze. We're only inches apart and with all the emotion swarming within me, I do the one thing I knew what I wanted to do; I kiss her…

Our lips meet in a soft, gentle kiss. My hands wrap around her while hers cup my face. Nothing has ever felt so right in my entire life. Every confused thought, every doubt I ever had before, was gone the moment she gave me her brother's bandanna. After a few more seconds we break the kiss, resting our foreheads against each others. It wasn't until then when I felt tears trickle down from my eyes. "This means so much to me, Miles…" I whisper.

"I really like you, Lilly… I honestly think that you were sent here to save me."

Once again, I press my lips against hers, making the kiss last longer than before. "I want to be with you," I say as Miley pulls me closer to her. "I just want to take things slow…"

"We can go as slow as you want," She smiles. "There's no way I'd do anything to mess this up." With that said, we continue kissing and slowly lay back in the grass. From there, we spend several minutes holding each other, looking up at the sparkling sky above us.

------

Later that evening, Miley and I slowly walked back into the barn with Stella. But before she put the horse away, Miley got the brush and put it in my hand. "I promised Stella that I'd let you brush her later, remember?" She smirked at me.

"Yea I know, but are you sure about this?" I asked Miley, a slight knot in the pit of my stomach.

"Hey it's not up to me, it's up to you. And of course I'm sure, I really think you can do it." Miley smiled at me for reassurance.

"Well alright, here it goes," Then I gripped the brush tightly and slowly took a step towards the horse. Seeing no movement of fright come from her, I began to gently brush her back. "Hey, this feels pretty good. Well I know I'm not the horse, but you know what I mean." I said as I stroked her back some more.

"Yea I know, it's kind of relaxing in a way…" Miley watched as I brushed her back with a few more strokes, but then I came to a soft stop as realization hit me.

"Uh oh, Miles what time is it?"

She quickly took out her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. "Almost midnight, wow time flies. I guess we sure got caught up in some moments." She chuckled.

I giggled a little too and then set the brush down nearby, on a bail of hay. "Yea we sure did, thanks Miles. But I'm about to be late for my curfew, so I'd better start heading home," I told her, then she put Stella away and we started walking out of the barn. "Oh and thanks a lot for tonight, you really helped clear things up for me and I also can't thank you enough for the bandanna. I know how much it means to you, so I'll be sure and take care of it."

"No problem Lil, you really deserve it, you're worth it to me. And I had a lot of fun tonight too." Miley blushed a little while she said that. I couldn't help but want to kiss her more now.

We were just behind my back deck now. "I can just walk in from here now, but uh…" I leaned in and closed the foot of space between us, to give her a quick kiss goodnight. It ended up being more like ten seconds, but it was all pure joy, "…night Miles." Then I walked up to the back door of my house. Just before I walked inside I quickly glanced back, and under the porch light, I saw Miley beaming with the biggest smile. Satisfied that I was the one who put it there, I quickly walked inside.

Miley's POV –

I stood still for moment and watched Lilly walk into her house. Tonight had been perfect, I couldn't have asked for a better one. Once Lilly was out of sight, I turned around and headed back the small distance to my house, smiling the whole way.

Just before I reached the deck of my house, I looked up at my house, I saw my Mom looking out one of the living room windows. She was just smiling at me and I could tell that meant she had been standing there long enough to see the goodnight kiss Lilly gave me. Of course I felt pissed about that at first, but couldn't contain my smile and so I just simply smiled back, as I felt a small blush come across my cheeks.

I kept walking up the steps of my deck, then into my house. My Mom simply gave me a big hug, then without a word, walked upstairs to bed. I could tell she knew the happiness I was feeling was real now.

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**AN 1: (Alvinfan again) Yay! Liley goodness, ha. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let us know what you thought. Thanks again for reading.**

**AN 2: (The Idiot) What? We can't fight for the bottom a/n anymore? Ah well s'okay. Yup, you all finally got some Liley action, so please leave many thoughts…. **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN 1: No worries, this story still exists lol (Alvinfan btw). Sorry it took so freakin' long to update, I was super busy with homework… still am… and I had been working on my other stories as well. Hopefully you'll all like this chapter. Enjoy.**

**AN 2: The…Great…Idiot! Mhmm, this still does exist, we have not fallen off the face of the earth….yet jk. Dang… looks like Alvinfan took away all the good excuses. Guess I'm not covered anymore lol. Yea well job searching's a killer, you all can understand that right? And then taking care of my new nephew from time to time etc. Anywho, we all have our reasons….yea ok, hope you enjoy. (oh and a tip, might wanna read the previous chapter, just to jog your memory a bit. Unless you have that of an elephant, then you're good)….**

**Realness I'm Faking**

"**Chapter 9"**

Lilly's POV—

While I was walking through the doorway and through my house then up to my room, I only had one thought on my mind, the incredible night I just had with Miley and I was smiling like I never have while I've been here. I was only thinking of that, that I wasn't paying attention to a single thing around me. But then I faintly heard a voice saying my name, so I snapped out of my trance.

"It's a few minutes past midnight Lillian." I suddenly saw my Mom standing by my bedroom door, her arms folded.

"Oh, y-yea sorry Mom. When I saw that it was midnight, I started walking home. Don't worry, it won't happen again."

"Alright thanks, so did you have a good time?"

"Oh yea, I really did." I said and smiled more again.

"Really? What'd you two do all night?"

"We uh, well we just took Miley's horse for a ride to a really big field just outside of town. Then we laid on the grass and looked at the stars for awhile. You know, you can see a lot more stars out here, it's really pretty. They're a lot harder to see back in the city."

"Well that sounds like a nice evening. I'll have to go out sometime when it's dark, but not so late, like right now. You've got to get up early for school tomorrow remember? So I think you'd better get to sleep now."

"Yea alright," I sighed and walked into my room. "Night Mom." Then I gave my Mom a hug for the night on the way into my room.

I closed my door and then sat on my bed and thought for a minute. I didn't want to have to lie to my Mom about this new relationship that's just beginning to blossom between me and Miley, and the old one that I just ended with Oliver. I don't think Miley would mind it if I told her, after all she is my Mom and she deserves to know the truth.

So I decided to tell her in the morning during breakfast, just before I leave for school. The quicker I get it over with, the easier it'll be.

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I got ready early and hurried downstairs for breakfast. I sat at the table as I saw my Mom making pancakes and bacon, then she looked up from the grill a bit surprised. "Well morning Lilly, you're certainly up earlier then usual."

"Uh yea, you know me; I can't resist the smell of bacon. It always draws my attention no matter where I am." I said and chuckled a bit nervously.

"And you know that you're always really knocked out when you're asleep," She smirked at me. "Come on now, I know there must be a real reason that you're awake so early."

"Yea ok, there is. I just thought you should know something about me and Miley, well it's more about me that's for you to know I guess," I took a deep breath and continued. "Well last night wasn't just a nice look at the fields and a fun look under the stars it was…there was more to it then that."

"Really? What do you mean by that?" Mom asked as she served me a plate of the freshly made pancakes and bacon.

"Well I really, actually we both…" I cleared my throat from being so nervous. "We both really like each other," I looked at Mom who was just looking at me and listening intently. I couldn't make out any expression, but it mainly seemed like she just wanted to hear me out. "I uh, well I even told Oliver that she makes me really happy that way. Like as in girlfriends like. So basically I'm….gay, Mom." I let out a deep breath, a breath of relief.

"You know Lilly, that's really fine with me actually. Because as long as she makes you really happy, then I'm happy for both of you," Mom said and gave me a big smile. Then she walked over to me and gave me a big hug. "I'm glad you came to me to tell me this.

And I want you to remember to come to me anytime, about anything else that happens or goes wrong."

"Thanks Mom," I hugged her again. "I love you."

"You're welcome sweetie. Now you'd better hurry up and eat though, because you need to go to school soon."

"Yea ok, thanks for the breakfast." I told her and then started eating quickly.

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Miley's POV—

I had woken up rather early this morning in the best mood of my life. Humming happily, I picked out my clothes for the day. As usual, I pulled out distressed jeans, my favorite converses, and I chose a plain black t-shirt. I felt simple today.

After getting dressed, I walked my way downstairs for breakfast. My mind was elsewhere; thinking of Lilly. What in the world did I do to deserve someone as wonderful as her? Never in a million years would I have ever thought someone like her could like someone like me.

"Miley?" I hear a voice call me. Clearing my thoughts, I look up to see my Mom questionably looking at me.

"Huh? What?" I quickly reply.

My mother laughed lightly to herself; which I glared at. "I just asked what you were doing up so early."

"Well, you saw what happened last night." I state before taking my seat at the table. Right then, Dad walks in with his briefcase and takes a seat as well. He smiles at me. "What…?" I ask.

"Nothing…" He smiles again and starts eating his breakfast. With a scowl, I look over at my mother.

"You told him, didn't you?" I deadpan.

"Sorry…" She blushes. "I was just so happy for you."

Letting out a sigh, I pick up my fork and start poking at my breakfast. "Let's just not make too much out of this, okay? We're taking things slow."

"Good," My Dad says.

Ignoring him, I finish up my breakfast and then gather my things for school. Saying my goodbyes, I left the house and instantly wondered over to Lilly's house. Butterflies filled my stomach as I stepped up onto her back porch. Now that we're together, I feel even more nervous. I guess I was just afraid of screwing this up… I'll do anything to make this work. Lilly's way too important to me.

Right as I raised my hand to knock on the door, it flies open; startling me. "Sweet niblets!" I yelp.

Lilly yelped in surprise as well but then smiled brightly when she saw that it was me. This totally made my day. "Miley! I was just about to go over to your house," She blushes.

"Sorry," I smile. "Guess I beat ya to it."

"Glad you did…" Lilly then leans in, closing the space between us, and kisses me. It's slow and gentle, everything I'd want it to be. Suddenly, I feel myself being turned and then pressed up softly against the side of the house; she's still kissing me. My heart hammers in my chest when Lilly lightly presses her body up against mine. All too soon though, air became needed. We broke apart and she blushed right when I looked at her in amazement. "Sorry…" She says bashfully.

"Don't be sorry." Smiling blissfully, I take her hands in mine. "As much as I'd rather stay here and kiss you, I think we should start walking to school."

"Oh yea, that," She says in annoyance. I can't help but laugh, which makes her smile. This still seems too good to be true. I still feel that at any minute I'm going to wake up and be bitterly disappointed and sad. "Come on," She starts. "Let's get going." Lilly, still holding onto my hand, drags me with her and I happily follow. Once we get further down the driveway, I drape my arm around her shoulders, holding her closer to me. How could I be so lucky to have her?

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Lilly's POV—

Being with Miley brought out this whole new side of me that I haven't even known about. Not even with Oliver. Sure, he made me happy, but when I think back on it, it was only the way a friend would make me feel. Like Jake for example, he's a great guy to hang out with. We always laugh and have fun. He reminds me of Oliver… and I think that's what really made me think things through. Miley made me feel special, loved, and adored. The fact that she said I made her life better made this all the more special to me. So throughout our walk to school, there was quite a bit of kissing, goofing off, and just, well… a lot of fun. I absolutely love being with her. Before I realized it, we were at the school. To play it safe, we let go of each other's hands and entered the building.

"Hey, Jake," Miley happily greets as we near our lockers.

"Hey guys…" He replies while digging through his backpack. Then, once he finds what he was looking for, he looks up at us. "Well, you two look happy." He smirks.

"We have our reasons," I say with a shrug; smirking as well.

Jake's face suddenly becomes alert with surprise when he looks down at my wrist. He looks back at Miley's, and then mine, then Miley's again. "Hey wait a minute… You're- You're wearing Miley's bandanna?!" I nod my head 'yes' while Miley and I both laugh a little at his reaction. "When? Why??" He's beaming now. Probably suspicious.

"I gave it to her last night, Jake." Miley answers him. Then, she wraps her arms around me again; this never gets old.

"No way!" Jake grins from ear to ear. After looking around, he steps closer to us. "Did you two finally hook up?" He whispers.

"Yea, we did." I look up at Miley to see that she's already looking back at me, smiling. "It was really romantic too…" I smile.

"This is fantastic! Ugh, you two have been dancing around each other since you moved here, Lilly." I play fully smack his arm. "Hey, just because you were confused doesn't mean that I wasn't right."

Miley and I pull back from the embrace before things looked too suspicious. "You're not as smug as you think you are." Miley tells him with a playful smirk.

"Oh come on," Jake smiles. "I'm always right." The next few seconds are spent in a silent staring contest between the two. "Okay, you're kind of scaring me now," He backs up.

"Told ya," Miley laughs.

"Anyways," He continues. "I'm so happy for you guys. You guys are great together."

"Really?" I smile. "Thanks, Jake."

"Yes really." Just then, the bell rings to get to first period. I don't know what he's thinking, but Jake is suddenly looking at Miley with a mischievous smile on his face. "Oh, and just so you know, Lilly… Miley isn't that bad in bed." Right as he said it he started darting off towards class.

While I'm laughing, Miley chases after him; her face incredibly red. "Jacob Allan Ryan! Get back here! You're toast!"

I can tell my face is a little red too, but I quicken my pace to catch up with them. On my way towards the door to the classroom I take notice that a few kids are eyeing me suspiciously. Shrugging it off, I enter the classroom to see Miley playfully smacking Jake's back as he cowers in fear. Laughing, I go over to help out my girlfriend.

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After school was over, Miley and I started walking to her house. She suggested we hang out there for awhile. "My parents know about us, so don't feel weird ok? I've just got an awesome new girlfriend, so there's nothing to be worried about."

She could probably notice the small hint of worry that came across my face. "You're right, nothing should feel weird about it so I won't worry. Oh but first I just have too call my Mom and let her know where I'll be."

Miley nodded her head as I stopped to take my cell phone out of my pocket. It rang a few times and then my Mom answered…

"Hey Mom, listen I'm going to hang out at Miley's house for awhile…Maybe a few hours…Yea I'll let you know about dinner and I'm right next door you know, so don't worry so much," Miley and I chuckled at my comment and how much she worried sometimes. "Thanks…ok I love you too, bye Mom," I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket, then we continued walking and almost to our destination. "Wow, she sure worries."

"It's ok, I go through the same thing all the time too." Miley smiled.

"Hey uh, speaking of going through things, did you ever get weird looks from the other kids at school when you were new in your school?"

"Well actually a few kids just greeted me on my first couple days. Then after that I wasn't really considered new. Why, is anything like that happening to you?" She asked with a concerned voice.

"Yea actually, today I've been getting some weird looks from a few kids when we walked into class. Never mind, make that more than one class."

"Really? Well that's odd, 'cause you've been here for awhile, so practically everyone's seen that there's a new girl in the school by now."

"I know right? I mean I didn't do anything did I? So I don't know what's going on." I said, a bit upset.

"You're right, you haven't been doing anything wrong, so that is kind of strange. Well who knows, maybe it'll all blow over soon."

"Yea I guess we'll just see what happens tomorrow then." I finished as we walked into Miley's house.

"Hey Mom, I'm home!" She called out, waiting for Mrs. S, to appear from somewhere. She was walking down the stairs and saw us and then smiled at the surprise of me next to Miley's side. "And better yet, so is Lilly. I asked her to come over and we're gonna hang out for awhile if that's ok?"

"Yea of course darlin', that's no problem at all," Then she looked at me. "It's great to have you here Lilly and you two look so great together."

"Alright Mother, we're leaving now," I giggled at Miley's embarrassment. "We'll be in my room."

We started walking upstairs, and then Mrs. S said one more thing. "Oh and Miles, behave."

"Ugh, first Dad and now this?! You really don't know how to respect privacy do you? How the hell did you raise me to do it then?" Miley said with a bit of anger as she stomped up the stairs. Half of the rest of her rant probably fading, from where her Mom was standing downstairs, as we walked away further.

Once we walked into her room, I walked in. She followed and then she shut the door behind herself. "Sorry about that Lil," Miley said as she dropped her backpack on her floor and then sat on her bed. "I mean I know I just barely told her this morning, but come on, could she be anymore subtle?" She said her last sentence sarcastically, and more to herself.

I was a little taken aback by the sudden mood change just then. "Whoa, uh what happened to that angry storm out there? I was a little scared to come in here for a moment." I admitted.

"Nice, I guess I'm a better actress then I thought." Miley smiled.

"Ok you've got some ego showing up, but would you please tell me what's going on before it get's too huge and blows up?"

"Yea sorry about that. Well all I was doing was acting mad, so we could get up in here and finally be alone. Sorry I scared you though," Miley chuckled, and then patted the spot beside her on her bed. I dropped my bag on the floor as well and then sat next to her. "So did you tell your Mom?"

"Yea and it went better than I expected. The whole conversation is basically that if I'm happy, then so is she."

"Well cool, I'm glad to hear that. So did you get much homework today?"

"Only from math, which takes forever for me to do," I said rather annoyed. Then I realized what she was really up to with all her questioning. "Wait a minute, what are you getting at…? Oh I think you just want…"

"Alone time? You're darn right." Miley smirked at me. "I'm fast at math, so I'll make it up to you later."

Miley's POV-

"Promise?" Lilly asked with a smile, moving a bit closer to me.

"Of course," I whispered and then closed the space between us.

It was soft only for the first few seconds, then suddenly I felt Lilly push harder and move the kiss faster. She was in control more and it felt like she had so much more hunger in it now. It was so enjoyable and I savored every moment. But it wasn't until lack of air began, that I remembered she had said she wanted to take things slow. Once we broke apart, I immediately spoke up.

"Whoa Lilly…I thought…" I was out of breath, but spoke as much as I could anyway. "I-I thought you didn't want to move so fast?"

"I know I said that, but…"

"I mean you made the first move on our first kiss, then you surprised me with that goodnight kiss, oh and before school you shoved me against your house and now this? I'm not saying I'm complaining at all, I'm enjoying every moment of this, but what about you, are you sure?"

"Miles, you didn't let me finish….I know I said I wanted to take things slow, but once we kissed it felt even more amazing than I thought it would have. I didn't want it to end, but I knew we had to sometime. So that's why I also kissed you goodnight, because I wanted it to last just a little longer. Then this morning, when you came to my house, I thought about the night before and I just couldn't help myself." She chuckled and then blushed at what I was assuming was her boldness.

I was smiling more and more at each word, "Good to know…" I moved in and gave her a quick peck this time. "So I suppose you wouldn't mind more of this then?" I smirked.

"Not at all, I love the way you work it girl." Lilly raised an eyebrow and then moved back into the kiss.

This time she gently pushed me down, against my bed, and made herself comfortable on top of me. We stayed in this position for a long time. It felt like hours, but was only several minutes. I ran my fingers through Lilly's silky hair as she held my waist and occasionally ran her hands up and down my sides.

Every time air was needed, we separated for just a few seconds, but leaving a very small amount of space between our lips just to catch our breath. And for those few seconds of silence and heavy breathing, we gazed deeply into each others eyes. Both of us wanting more. I knew I needed her and it looked as though Lilly felt the same.

After about twenty minutes, I decided to slow things down, so I gently pulled away from the kiss. "L-Lilly, I-I think we should slow it down a bit now. I mean as much as I'm enjoying this, I need a minute you know?" I whispered into the silence.

"Yea, yea you're right…" Lilly agreed and rolled off of me and now we were both lying on our backs. "I'm a bit tired too," There was a small pause while Lilly put her hands behind her head, then she turned her head to look at me and spoke up again. "Oh, remember when I was on my phone earlier and I mentioned I would tell my Mom about dinner? Well I told her that incase I ended up staying here for awhile. So what do you think, should I stay over?"

"Yea of course, I'd love that. That would be really cool." I told her.

Lilly chuckled, "Alright cool, I'll call her back in a little while and let her know." She smiled as I was already moving my head closer to hers and then I pressed my lips gently against hers for more.

Lilly's POV –

"Dinner was excellent, thank you guys so much." I thanked Mr. and Mrs. Stewart as I headed towards the front door to leave.

"No problem Lilly, come over anytime you want." Robbie said.

"Thanks Mr. S."

"Yea thanks Mom and Dad. Listen, I'll just be out here for a minute, to say goodnight to Lilly real quick." Miley said and smiled at her parents.

"Yes, real quick Miles." Her Mom said a bit sternly, yet with a slight smile on her face.

"Ugh, goodbye Mother." Miley said and pushed me out the door and followed as well.

"Sorry about them, they're really annoying sometimes…Well all the time actually." Miley chuckled and I did too.

"It's fine, parents are parents. Protective and just worried about who you go out with, PDA, that sort of junk, and you can't do a thing about it."

"Yea I guess not." Miley sighed.

"Pretty much the only thing you can do is be patient with them and they'll get over it and accept the person you chose."

"Patient? I hate that word a lot. You know what, your little 'life lessons' are getting really annoying."

"Ha, well its true right?"

"Still though, they are annoying, nice to you, but over protective all the same. As well as your little 'life lessons'. Since when did you decide to sound so deep anyway? That's rather obnoxious-"

I just rolled my eyes and kissed her for several seconds. "Do you even remember why you came out here to say goodnight?" I smirked as I pulled away.

"Oh ha, guess I forgot. Thanks for reminding me Lil."

"Not a problem…" I smile at her once again and then, reluctantly, let go of her hands. "See you tomorrow?"

"You better," Miley smirks. "Anyways, I'll see you later." She leans in again for one last kiss goodnight and then walks back into her house. I can't help but watch. Once she's inside her house, I let out the breath I was holding, smile, and look down at the bandanna again. I'd still like to know how I ended up so lucky…

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**AN: (Alvinfan) Yea, sorry if the end was lame. My fault lol. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always welcome. Thanks.**


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